Speech by Ilham Aliyev at the opening of “ASAN hayat” complex in Masalli

Good morning!

It is a very significant day in Masalli today as an “ASAN həyat” center starts functioning here. I cordially congratulate you on this occasion. It is a wonderful event. “ASAN xidmət” has been operating in Azerbaijan for about four years and has earned great respect of the people in this short time.

“ASAN xidmət” is a product of Azerbaijan, an Azerbaijani invention. We are proud of the fact that an intellectual product that is unparalleled on a global scale is already introduced in the world as a product of Azerbaijan. Some countries are already trying to explore our experience and have established cooperation with us in a variety of formats. This indicates that our initiative has indeed yielded great and extensive results and reverberated well with the public. People also like this service. The satisfaction rate is 98 per cent. Over the years, the Centre has received applications from 3.5 million people. The total number of applications is 11,300,000. An 11th center starts operating.

The presentations made here today suggest that there are plans to build more centers. Next year, we shall start the construction of four centers in other regions. Thus, our goal will be met. And the goal is to provide people in our all regions with a modern level of service in the area of public services.

“ASAN xidmətI is about innovation, transparency and culture. In fact, the presence of “ASAN xidmət” in society establishes new rules of conduct. After all, we remember that people had to wait for weeks in previous years to obtain a certificate or a document. Now people come here and are served well, in a quiet and transparent manner without any illegal demands. And people are satisfied with this service.

As you know, 10 buses provide outreach services. We try to provide services to all segments of the population. This center will provide services to six districts - Masalli, Lankaran, Jalilabad, Lerik, Astara and Yardimli. More than 800,000 people live in these districts. The activities of “ASAN xidmət” deserve a very high assessment. The people of Azerbaijan know and see this. I am proud that we as an independent state have introduced this intellectual product to the world.

This center is different from the previous ones because “ASAN xidmət” expands its functions. In general, these centers provide more than 200 types of services. The “ASAN həyat” center in Masalli also houses agricultural, banking and industrial sectors, as a sector on the development of our regions. I am sure that the initiatives presented here will give me a great impetus to the agricultural sector and family farms, because our main goal is to provide every citizen with a decent job and a good income, and to develop entrepreneurship. To do this, we are implementing a number of projects. In fact, we have recently taken important steps in the field of self-employment, so that those who can’t find a job could be engaged in work with government support and became entrepreneurs. The small processing plants I have been shown here are an innovation in the field of processing and packaging of various agricultural products. This will be applied in Azerbaijan for the first time. Cheese will be produced in one of my four containers, meat products in another, vegetables in the third and different fruits in the fourth. So this will create additional opportunities for our people to live better. This is our main goal. There are opportunities for conducting intellectual games and entertainment activities. A beautiful island and a great park have been created. I am sure that the people of Masalli and guests from other regions will use these excellent facilities.

The establishment of “ASAN xidmət” centers, the center in Masalli in particular, demonstrates both the power and policies of our country. Only a strong state is capable of doing this. Only the government that takes care of its people can do this work. Major funds have been allocated from the state budget to create “ASAN xidmət” centers. We have already established 11 centers. These centers are architectural masterpieces. Why are we doing this? For people to live comfortably, so that no-one denies them their rights or puts forward unreasonable demands, and so that they could live quietly and feel even more proud to be citizens of Azerbaijan.

This is my ninth visit to Masalli. I visit Masalli almost every year. Important steps have been taken for the development of Masalli. Infrastructure, social infrastructure, industrial and agricultural projects are implemented in the district. Today we will celebrate the opening of drinking water project in Masalli. I remember laying the foundation stone of this project four years ago and am glad that it is ready now. It will provide residents of Masalli and some villages with clean drinking water. It is a historic project indeed. You all know very well that water has always been a very serious problem for Masalli. At the same time, gasification projects are successfully implemented in Masalli. I remember people often raising this issue during my earlier trips, complaining that they have no gas and asking for gas lines to be built. Now the gasification of Masalli has reached about 80 per cent, and as a result of further measures that will be taken we will bring it to 90 per cent. So this problem is being eliminated.

The construction of the Baku-Astara-Iranian order highway is well under way. Its Lankaran-Masalli section is almost ready. At the same time, several rural projects have been implemented in Masalli and road linking dozens of villages have been commissioned. This process will be continued. All the roads leading to villages should be landscaped. Work in this direction is ongoing. There is an Olympic Center in this region. I remember inaugurating this Center in 207. The Center in Masalli is one of the first Olympic Centers we built.

I have always tried to pay attention to the development of Masalli District. Social infrastructure projects are being implemented now. The major overhaul of the Central District Hospital is drawing to a close. This is a hospital for 240 beds.

Steps are being taken in the field of agriculture. I am told that tea-growing will be restored in Masalli and plantations established on an area of around 1,000 hectares. This will increase people’s incomes. Tobacco-growing will develop in Masalli as well. In other words, the attention we are paying to agriculture, the provision of people with equipment, fertilizer and subsidies will certainly benefit our people.

Also in Masalli, we are creating Azerbaijan’s second industrial estate. I issued an instruction on the establishment of these zones some time ago. The first zone is being set up in Neftchala. It is almost ready. The second industrial estate will be in Masalli. What does this mean? It means new jobs. The population of Masalli is increasing. It is home to about 220,000 people. Of course, our economic development must conform to population growth. In some countries of our region, the population is shrinking. Of course, there are different reasons for that. Fortunately, the population of Azerbaijan is growing and the reason for that is our successful economic development.

If we look at the demographic dynamics of the population, we can see that there was a demographic decline in difficult years for our country, i.e. the growth slowed down. In recent years, however, the population has been growing fast, and this urges us to work even harder. The creation of jobs should be an ongoing process. This center alone will provide 250 new jobs. The vast majority of “ASAN xidmət” employees are boys and girls. I am very happy about that because young people, especially women, should be provided with jobs. All of them are local residents. I am very glad that we have done this in Masalli and established this Centre in such a short time.

I wish you the best of good luck. Please provide good service to our people. Of course, our volunteers will assist you in these matters. Congratulations again!