Azerbaijan - Achievements
The European Commission’s Progress Report Azerbaijan concludes that the Azerbaijani Government did not make full use of the opportunities offered by the Action Plan to carry out political and economic reforms in the country in 2007. This is in particular the case in areas such as democracy, rule of law, the fight against corruption, human rights and sustainable economic development.
Good progress has been achieved in the area of taxation. A positive step toward improving the business environment was the implementation of a one–stop shop mechanism to register an enterprise, and the Automated Tax Information System (ATIS).
Azerbaijan is a strategic partner for the EU on Caspian oil and gas resources both as a producer and as a transit country. A Memorandum of Understanding on a strategic partnership between the EU and Azerbaijan in the field of energy was signed in November 2006 and cooperation is progressing well.
Recently Azerbaijan began exporting significant quantities of hydrocarbons, resulting in very high Government revenues and making it one of the fastest growing economies in the world (GDP growth of 25% in 2007).
Diversification of the economy will be critical for the country’s long term development.
