On 3 February, a conference dedicated to the results of the first year of 'The State Program on Socio-Economic Development of the Regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2019-2023’ was held, where Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev spoke on the current state of the economy in Azerbaijan, reported azerdaily. 

Aliyev said that in his country great opportunities had been created for entrepreneurs, if they fulfil certain requirements. “They must be honest, work cleanly, must not follow a curved road, must not hide taxes,“ he said.

He warned the entrepreneurs in the country not to give any bribes. “[Entrepreneurs] should not give a single manat to anyone, to any organisation, to any person. Because bribery has two sides: the giver and the taker. And now I'm telling potential bribe takers: stop it! If someone requires something from you without reason, immediately inform the Presidential Administration, the Cabinet of Ministers, and the central executive bodies. This is completely unacceptable. Because in many cases, the arbitrariness of officials is an obstacle to the development of entrepreneurship. This must [come] to an end,” he stated. 

Aliyev spoke against the shadow economy in his country. “There should be no shadow economy, and that's it… True, the shadow economy exists everywhere, in every country. With us it has reached an unbearable level. When they showed me an analysis of the situation in the underground economy, to be honest, I was shocked. This must be put to an end. At the expense of what did the tax and customs authorities last year raise more than the forecast 1 billion? Well, due to the fact that these funds went into someone's pocket and the citizen of Azerbaijan was deprived of this money. This money to the penny went to salaries, pensions and benefits to people. And now can we close our eyes to the shadow economy? Absolutely not! Again, I say that the shadow economy must be put to an end and state bodies have determined the transition period,” he said.

The main goal of the State Program on Socio-Economic Development of Regions of Azerbaijan for 2009-2013 is to achieve accelerate the development of the non-oil sector, diversification of the economy, obtain balanced regional and sustainable socio-economic development, as well as, further improvement of welfare of the population in the country.