Is there a middle class in Azerbaijan?

A conference titled, "Middle Class Azerbaijan: social, economic, political dynamics and prospects" was held Wednesday in the Center for Strategic Studies under the President. Officials, deputy, international and local experts, attended the event.  The main theme was the methodology in the formation of the middle class in coming years. 

Experts’ referring to their researches, Azerbaijan has yet to form a middle class in the socio-economic field, in income, education and employment.

The Director of the Centre, Farhad Mammadov, said that a successful oil strategy over the past 20 years provided Azerbaijan’s development. Strategies for further development are in the non-oil sector.  In the next 10 years, oil revenues should increase, which could be a stimulus for the development of a middle class, Mammadov said.

MP academician Ziyad Samadzade, believes the absence of a middle class is not the fault of the system. American and European experiences show the formation of the middle class does not happen in a matter of one decade. "International experience shows that in countries where radical reforms are going on, there is no middle class, only the rich and the poor. It is necessary to form a strategy for the formation of a middle class. The bright future of the country depends on this class," he said.

An employee of the center, Vusal Gasimli, Azerbaijan has a middle class but is not sufficiently developed. According to international research, the next five years the middle class will develop rapidly in Azerbaijan. Previously, the society developed due to oil revenues, and now there will be a push for rapid development of the middle class.

Rashmi Shankar, representative of the World Bank, said that in Azerbaijan there is a possibility of the development of the non-oil sector, and formation of a middle class, increasing the GDP to $20,000 dollars per person.

"Development is due to oil income, poverty has decreased, and now it is necessary to develop the service sector and other sectors of the economy.  It is necessary to increase competitiveness, strengthening a position in world markets," said Shankar.

The middle class is the guarantor of stability. In this sense, Azerbaijan should not only strengthen competitiveness, it should also liberalize legislation, to create equal opportunities, and hear the voice of the middle class, the expert said. -03C04-