"There are only two resources that Azerbaijan has - oil and people," he said. "The oil resource is depleting. Oil production reached the peak in 2010-2011. I think it was more than 1.1 million barrels per day, now it’s less than 700,000 and it is going down. Of course, some gas discoveries have led to an additional source of revenue, and the WB was at the forefront of getting the TANAP pipeline build and finance, but that will not fully replace the oil revenues."
Regarding the second resource, the population, Naqvi said that Azerbaijan is the only country where the population is growing and young population is also increasing.
"If you look across the region in neighboring countries the population is declining," he said. "In Georgia from 1991, it’s gone from 5 million people to 3.7 million people now. The similar decline is in Armenia."
"But now we have to make sure that these people are given quality education, quality healthcare, and an environment in which they can start businesses and create jobs," he noted. "So the next step for Azerbaijan is to make this hard investment. That’s because unlike roads, where if you put money in it, next year you will see the road, for education or healthcare, you have to start investing now and you will see benefits in a few years."
"I know that the government is doing a lot on improving the Doing Business indicators," he said, adding that a more systemic and holistic approach is needed to improve the human capital in Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan joined the WB group in 1992.
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