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CENTER FOR ECONOMIC AND
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT (CESD), AZERBAIJAN
AZERBAIJAN'S ACCESSION TO THE WTO:
CROSS-COUNTRIES ANALYSIS
Issues related to development of the World
Trade Organization (WTO), which is distinctive
with its leading role and activity in
increasingly economic globalization, as well as
new accession in this context are considered a
subject at issue that involves and concerns not
only investigators, but also economic analysts
in research and practical debates at different
levels. Since the WTO, by making significant
contributions to international trade
liberalization, promotes the efficient
administration of trade turnover and provides
openness of member countries in foreign trade
regimes through free market access principles.
The WTO is the only international organization
dealing with the global rules of trade between
nations. It plays a role of administering
transnational trade relations based on the
multilateral trading system - the WTO's
agreement, negotiated and signed by a large
majority of the world's trading nations.
The WTO's overriding objective is to maximize
international trade liberalization and to
establish its sound foundation, thus leading to
economic development and advance in the cost of
living. In order to achieve these undertakings,
WTO's primary duty extends to administering
commercial and economic relations among member
governments according to the Package of
Agreements resulting from the Uruguay Round
trade talks (1986-1994).
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Enhancing Transparency in budgets and oil
revenues in the Caspian Basin: civil society has
a key role to play
Oil boom in Caspian Basin Countries This
article focuses on problems of transparency in
oil revenues in Caspian Basin Countries (CBCs),
including Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia and
Turkmenistan's oil sectors excluding Iran's. The
Caspian Base consists of five countries and four
of them are Former Soviet Republics and these
have no experience of establishing transparency
and the paper focuses on these countries. It
could be expected for the CBCs to follow the
path of the so many oil-producing countries in
the Middle East and Africa - where a corrupt
elite, not the majority, benefits from oil
resources - but Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, where
the oil wealth is just beginning to flow and
where an oil regime is not yet established,
could still get it right. That is if civil
society organisations continue to do their part.
It is a great paradox that countries rich in
natural resources tend to have lower economic
growth rates, and greater political unrest than
their resource-poor neighbors. One of the main
reasons for such a situation is lack of
transparency. It is widely accepted that more
transparency over revenue flows between oil, gas
and mining companies and resource-rich
developing country governments is necessary to
enhance accountability and to curb corruption.
Transparency is a fundamental first step to
lifting the "resource curse", so that resource
revenues promote economic growth and poverty
reduction in developing countries around the
world. World Bank President John Wolfensohn said
that "The World Bank has endorsed the Extractive
Industries Transparency Initiative and is
actively engaged with several developing
countries - Nigeria, Azerbaijan, and Kyrgyzstan
- to develop a more systematic approach to
disclosure of revenues from extractive
industries."
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Gender Equality and
Economic Development; Empowering Women’s
Participation in Decision-Making Process
The Millennium Development Goals (MDG) provides
vision to eliminate gender disparities in
primary secondary education and to empower
women’s participation in decision-making process
as well as in national parliament. Gender
inequality tends to lower the productivity of
labor and the efficiency of labor allocation in
the economy. The main objectives of the paper
are; to show positive correlation between
economic development and gender equality (i); to
demonstrate impacts women’s participation in
national parliaments on economic growth (ii) to
explain MDG in terms of gender equality (iii);
and to illustrate negative correlation between
women’s participation in decision-making process
and corruption.
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Mortgage Loans in
Azerbaijan
Beginning from last year mortgage system has
been applied in Azerbaijan . Two type of
mortgage are currently used. The first one is
social mortgage which offer 4 % annual payment,
anther one is ordinary where payment is twice
higher compare with social mortgage.
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Special Economic Zones in
Azerbaijan
Dr. Vugar Bayramov analyzed the President’s
new act on SEZs
3 Special Economic Zones are planned to be
organized in Azerbaijan . Lenkaran, Nakchivan
and Sumgayit are most discussed cases, however,
not decision has been made, yet.
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