OREANDA-NEWS. September 13, 2010. On September 13, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev received in Baku the  World Bank (WB) Vice President for Europe and Central Asia, who is on a visit to Azerbaijan to September 15.

The issues of condition and prospects for cooperation between the bank and the country, as well as international projects of mutual interest were under discussion during the meeting.

The  aim of his visit is to familiarize himself with recent economic and social developments in Azerbaijan and to discuss with the country’s leadership, senior government officials, development partners, business community, and civil society the possible ways in which the World Bank can support sustainable economic growth and diversification, and human capital development in the country.

Besides meetings with official persons Vice President will visit two projects supported by WB – the Pension and Social Protection Project and the Judicial Modernization Project

WB presently finances 20 projects with commitments valued at around USD 2 billion covering investments in transport, water and sanitation, agriculture and irrigation, health and education among others.

“I am pleased to note that Azerbaijan has experienced unprecedented growth over the past few years which have led to a significant drop in poverty. The challenge now is to diversify the economy and promote non-oil exports so that Azerbaijan can progress to becoming a strong, upper middle-income country in the medium term".

“WB proposed new Country Partnership Strategy for Azerbaijan for 2011-2014 is expected to provide significant additional resources and advisory services to build a competitive non-oil economy and provide more effective social and municipal services,” Mr. Joseph Owen, the recently appointed World Bank Country Manager for Azerbaijan, said.