Next year in Azerbaijan the minimum wage, pensions, and social allowances will be raised, President Ilham Aliyev said at the 8th Congress of the New Azerbaijan Party (YAP), according to Report.

“We pursue this policy regularly so that the welfare of the Azerbaijani people improves from year to year. But of course, economic development is needed for this. It is true that the growth of gross domestic product is not particularly high, but our overall economic potential is sufficiently strong,” the head of state said.

He noted that the International Investment Forum has been held in Azerbaijan only twice – in September of this year and in the previous year. The total volume of investment contracts signed at both forums exceeds 20 billion dollars.

“That is, no economy can develop without investments. Here, state investments alone will not be enough. We need foreign investments – both in the oil and gas sector and in the non-oil and gas sector. Therefore, this is effectively a manifestation of trust in Azerbaijan’s economy. Look, the world’s leading investment institutions participated in the Second Investment Forum held at the end of September. The funds under their management exceed 30 trillion dollars. That is, it is not difficult to imagine the caliber of the people who cooperate with Azerbaijan and wish to continue cooperating in the future – the executives of these companies and investment funds attended the forum,” the head of Azerbaijan said.