Ramzi Teymurov
The following article was contributed by Azerbaijani Charge d’Affaires Ramzi Teymurov on the occasion of the 95th anniversary of the establishment of the Republic of Azerbaijan. ― Ed.
On May 28, 2013, Azerbaijan celebrated the 95th anniversary of its Republic Day. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) was established in 1918 becoming the first democratic and secular republic in the Muslim world before being occupied by the Bolshevik Red Army in 1920.
The creation of the ADR was inextricably linked with the national independence movement. The history of the Republic is marked by great achievements of its citizens in politics, economy and culture, which many decades later allowed us to make the establishment of an independent Azerbaijan.
The ADR was the first secular Muslim country built on the principles of democracy. It gave equal rights to all, including the right to vote for women when women in the United States still did not have that right. The first girl’s school was opened and the first opera was staged during short period of ADR.
Although the ADR lasted for only two years, its ideas lived on. Since 1992, Azerbaijan has become an independent state based on democratic traditions.
Azerbaijan launched fundamental political and economic reforms. In 2011 Azerbaijan was elected a member of the U.N. Security Council with the support of 155 countries. Azerbaijan was invited to the G20 Summit in Mexico in February 2012, and a month later Azerbaijan took part in the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul.
The main objective of Azerbaijan’s foreign policy is the resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict based on international law, history and justice. As a result of the 1991-94 war, 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory was occupied by neighboring Armenia.
The U.N. Security Council adopted four resolutions, and the decisions and resolutions by the OSCE, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, the Non-Aligned Movement and NATO also demand the withdrawal of Armenian forces from the internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan.
The Republic of Azerbaijan has a dynamic economy. In the 21 years of our restored independence, Azerbaijan has achieved economic success.
Over the past 10 years, more than $130 billion was invested in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan’s GDP grew by an impressive rate of 2.2 percent in 2012 ($68.7 billion), driven by growth in oil and gas production, as well as the non-oil sector. More than 83 percent of GDP is provided by the private sector. In 2012 the share of the non-oil sector in GDP exceeded 57.2 percent. The national poverty level decreased from 44.7 percent in 2003 to 6 percent in 2012, while the unemployment rate went down from 9.7 percent to 5.2 percent. The country’s overall currency reserves are $46 billion. The country’s growing economic potential has facilitated the development of the non-oil sector, human capital and social spheres.
The World Economic Forum has ranked Azerbaijan in 46th place in the world. Azerbaijan has been ranked first in the CIS for the fourth consecutive year. Azerbaijan has entered the category of “high average income” countries in the World Bank’s gross national income classification.
The sphere of ICT is becoming a priority in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has already joined the club of a limited number of countries with a space industry. In February this year, Azerbaijan successfully launched its first satellite Azerspace-1, and this is only the beginning of space industry development.
Azerbaijan attaches great importance to its relations with the Republic of Korea. Mutually beneficial cooperation between Azerbaijan and Korea are continuing and expanding from year to year. These relations have been developing both in political and economic spheres, and are based on the principles of effective mutual cooperation.
Over the past six years, Azerbaijan and Korea exchanged visits at the highest level. During these visits over 50 agreements were signed that created the legal basis for the development of political, economic, cultural and humanitarian relations.
The Azerbaijani government considers Korea one of its 15 major partners globally, with which it carries economic and trade cooperation. Moreover, Korea declared Azerbaijan a priority country for economic cooperation for 2011-2013. Economic relations between Azerbaijan and Korea are active, especially in sectors such as transport, information and telecommunications, alternative energy, know-how, environment and construction. Trade turnover between the countries until 2005 was very low ― only $47 million, but this figure has increased significantly in 2011 ($654 million).
There is huge potential for expanding economic cooperation between Azerbaijan, with its abundant natural resources and Korea with rich human resources, impressive experience in economic development, know-how and technology.
We are confident that the agreements reached, the work done and, most importantly, the political will of our heads of state will make a positive contribution to the further expansion of our cooperation.