The political economy of Azerbaijan has been interlinked in the internal and external relations of the country. This is exit for energy policy. It explains the qualitative socio-historical and political leap forward, referring to the efforts of President Heydar Aliyev, who signed the PSA with transnational energy corporations in 1994. According to this publication, the construction of multiple oil and gas pipelines represents the success of Azerbaijan’s independent energy policy. Azerbaijan as a Regional Economic Driver: Opportunities and Challenges emphasises leading sectors of Azerbaijan’s economy such as transport, construction, agriculture, information and communications technology, tourism and banking. It is noteworthy that the book refers to ‘Azerbaijan 2020’ when explaining the country’s policy to transform itself from an energy-based economy to a knowledge-based one. This publication serves to recognise Azerbaijan as a reliable partner in international relations. It also scrutinises advantages and disadvantages of trade-off between strategic choices oriented to the European Union and/or the Eurasian Union.
Azerbaijan has set the course for the economy to reduce its dependence on oil by promoting new drivers of growth. By 2025, under the government’s Strategic Roads Maps, a more diversified economy should take shape led by three sectors: agriculture, tourism, and manufacturing. Bold reforms need to strengthen areas of the economy that could otherwise impede this transition, and policy makers must resolutely stay on the reform path. The core message of this publication is diversification toward non-oil sources of growth alongside efforts to reduce macroeconomic risks and the high cost of finance, make the education system responsive to the needs of the labor market, close infrastructure gaps, and help economically significant state-owned enterprises become more efficient.
This publication helps guide investment planning and financing across key urban infrastructure sectors of Azerbaijan to improve the performance of cities---with a focus on economy, equity, and environment. The National Urban Assessment for Azerbaijan is among a series prepared by the Asian Development Bank for selected developing countries under its Urban Operational Plan 2012–2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic struck the global economy after a decade that featured a broad-based slowdown in productivity growth. Global Productivity: Trends, Drivers, and Policies presents the first comprehensive analysis of the evolution and drivers of productivity growth, examines the effects of COVID-19 on productivity, and discusses a wide range of policies needed to rekindle productivity growth. The book also provides a far-reaching data set of multiple measures of productivity for up to 164 advanced economies and emerging market and developing economies, and it introduces a new sectoral database of productivity. The World Bank has created an extraordinary book on productivity, covering a large group of countries and using a wide variety of data sources. There is an emphasis on emerging and developing economies, whereas the prior literature has concentrated on developed economies. The book seeks to understand growth patterns and quantify the role of (among other things) the reallocation of factors, technological change, and the impact of natural disasters, including the COVID-19 pandemic. This book is must-reading for specialists in emerging economies but also provides deep insights for anyone interested in economic growth and productivity. Martin Neil Baily Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution Former Chair, U.S. President’s Council of Economic Advisers This is an important book at a critical time. As the book notes, global productivity growth had already been slowing prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and collapses with the pandemic. If we want an effective recovery, we have to understand what was driving these long-run trends. The book presents a novel global approach to examining the levels, growth rates, and drivers of productivity growth. For anyone wanting to understand or influence productivity growth, this is an essential read. Nicholas Bloom William D. Eberle Professor of Economics, Stanford University The COVID-19 pandemic hit a global economy that was already struggling with an adverse pre-existing condition—slow productivity growth. This extraordinarily valuable and timely book brings considerable new evidence that shows the broad-based, long-standing nature of the slowdown. It is comprehensive, with an exceptional focus on emerging market and developing economies. Importantly, it shows how severe disasters (of which COVID-19 is just the latest) typically harm productivity. There are no silver bullets, but the book suggests sensible strategies to improve growth prospects. John Fernald Schroders Chaired Professor of European Competitiveness and Reform and Professor of Economics, INSEAD
This report presents global projections of materials use and their environmental consequences, providing a quantitative outlook to 2060 at the global, sectoral and regional levels for 61 different materials (biomass resources, fossil fuels, metals and non-metallic minerals). It explains the ...
The South Caucasus region, comprising the former Soviet states of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia occupies a key strategic location, squeezed between the Black and Caspian Seas, Iran, Russia and Turkey. Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, the region has become an arena of geopolitical confrontation with regional powers such as Russia, Turkey and Iran vying for influence in the face of growing Western involvement. The Russian military intervention in Georgia in 2008 not only raised questions about Moscow's intentions towards its 'Near Abroad' and the future direction of its foreign policy, it also demonstrated that ostensibly local separatist disputes have serious ramifications for regional relations and the wider international community. In this book, German explores the extent of regional cooperation in the South Caucasus, analyses the reasons for the relative lack of regional cooperation and assesses the potential for deeper cooperation in the future.
This book familiarizes readers with the Asia-Pacific region, presents the major social, economic and political issues, maps contemporary community development trends, and critically analyzes the challenges of and opportunities for community development practice in the Asia-Pacific region.
This report describes how Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) corridor performance measurement and monitoring (CPMM) helps to achieve the objectives of the CAREC Transport and Trade Facilitation Strategy and its Implementation Action Plan. It presents the CPMM methodology and discusses the roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders, especially the private sector. It highlights ongoing efforts to provide accurate and reliable indicators despite the challenges of measuring corridor performance in the CAREC context. The extensive depth of data collected and the richness of information that CPMM has been providing since 2009 supports detailed policy analysis and formulation. Trade facilitation indicators have been developed to inform CAREC's Development Effectiveness Review. These indicators provide a basis of comparison or benchmarking of one location (border crossing point or corridor segment) against another in terms of (i) the efficiency of border management agency policies and procedures in regulating trade, (ii) infrastructure quality, and, in due course, (iii) the quality and performance of trade logistics service providers. The four indicators include the standard measures of time and cost as the main components. Selected corridor performance data are then analyzed to identify the physical and non-physical barriers to trade and transit traffic encountered at specific locations, helping to pinpoint the causes of excessive delays and costs. With this study, ADB underscores the value of CPMM for CAREC countries (and for countries participating in other subregional programs) as they craft policies and consider investments to facilitate trade.
This volume offers analyses of the basic tendencies and the problems of Russia, Eastern Europe, Transcaucasia, Central Asia, and the Baltic states. It covers the Russian economic model; the rates and proportions of the Russian economy; its real, financial, external, and social sectors; investment and fixed assets; human capital; and economic policy. East European, Transcaucasian, Central Asian and Baltic economies are then analysed using the same perspectives. This allows a comparison of the economic progress of the post-Soviet countries, highlighting the differences and the similarities between them. This book will be useful for students, professors, and businessmen interested in cooperation with the post-Soviet countries.
