Where are the 300 billion invested in Azerbaijan spent?

Shahmar Movsumov, the head of the Department of economic issues and innovative development policy of the Presidential Administration, has stated that roughly $300 billion has been invested in Azerbaijan since 2003.

According to the Center for analysis of economic reforms and communication, investments in Azerbaijan's fixed assets grew by 2.7 times from 2003 to 2021, while investments in construction and installation works grew by 4.1 times during the same period.

The Center reports that a total of $288.9 billion was invested in Azerbaijan between 2004 and 2021, which increases to approximately $300 billion when considering 2022. Of this total, $142 billion was foreign investment. In terms of non-oil and gas sectors, investments increased by 7.2 times from 2004 to 2021, with a total investment of $179.5 billion in these sectors during this period.

However, most of these investments have been made in the oil and gas sector, according to Member of the committee on Economic Policy, industry and entrepreneurship of the Milli Majlis Aydin Huseynov.

Huseynov also emphasized that these investments played a significant role in the country's economy, including the development of the non-oil sector, tourism, agriculture, and the creation of industrial parks and complexes.

The investments also strengthened the country's defense and army, and improved infrastructure, including road networks and electricity supply.

Economist Nazim Baydemirli highlighted the opening and closure of factories due to inefficient operations and lack of market research. The effectiveness of the investments remains a matter of debate, as some argue that the country remains dependent on foreign production. Despite growth in some sectors, such as the road infrastructure, Value Added Tax (VAT) growth has not shown significant increases in the non-oil sector, which some argue indicates continued dependency on foreign production.