“We saw that investment in the non-oil sector was more made by the state or local companies. Foreign companies tend to invest more in the oil and gas sector. Therefore, I am confident that the creation of this zone will serve the development of the non-oil sector of Azerbaijan, the non-oil sector of our economy,” the head of state noted.

Emphasizing that the infrastructure to be created at the Alat Free Economic Zone will be attractive to investors, President Ilham Aliyev said: “New technologies will come to our country, new jobs will be created, the salaries of Azerbaijani citizens will be high, competitive products will be manufactured here and our non-oil sector's export opportunities will expand. Because if we look at the structure of our gross domestic product, we can see that the oil sector is no longer dominant. However, if we look at exports, we can see that oil and gas products account for the vast majority of our exports. Therefore, one of the key factors was the implementation of reforms and the attraction of foreign investors, especially to the industrial sector. Of course, this idea has been discussed for a long time. But we had to choose the right time to implement this project. We had to be ready for it, and I think we are ready for it today.”