1. How to be? 

A liberal economy dominated by free market will be formed in Azerbaijan. We are convinced that it is possible to ensure sustainable and steady economic growth and development, and to build a society of good living in a free market, based on voluntary and mutually beneficial people-to-people exchanges.

The main pillars of the economic system are the following:

· Freedom of individual choice of the consumer and producer (economic subjects);

· Free competition;

· Free pricing;

· Private ownership (including diversity of ownership);

· Initiative, freedom of entrepreneurship;

· Competitive human capital;

· Effective international integration.

At the heart of the economic system is a robust and reliable legal and institutional environment - the the rule of law - that ensures fair and efficient economic decisions:

•   Guarantees to ensure the inviolability of human rights and freedoms, including property rights; 
• Justice and equality for all efore the law; 
• Securing contractual obligations;
•  An independent and fair judicial system.

The government role in the economy is reflected in:

• Transparent and efficient macroeconomic regulation (fiscal policy and monetary policy);
• Prevention of unfair competition and monopolistic activity;
• Provision of net social welfare (national security, public order, etc.) that the market cannot provide;
• Transparent 'public-private business' cooperation in the organization of utility and infrastructure sectors.

Government 'intervention' in the marketplace" is based on the selection and proper application of right incentives in duly justified cases.

We proceed from the fact that that the source of continuous and sustained economic growth and development are neither natural resources nor material capital, but human capital and proper management. The main resource of our society is our people: by creating favorable conditions for them to exercise their knowledge, skills and abilities, it is possible to constantly increase the country's economic potential. The formation and development of competitive human capital in accordance with global development trends constitutes the main line of state policy.

2. How is it now? 

At present, the economic system in our country can be characterized as state-oligarchic (clan) capitalism. Economic fields, especially medium and large businesses, are monopolized by a small group, mainly linked to the political system. The main characteristics of the existing economic system are:

·       People's choice in all markets (labor, capital, land, etc.) is limited;

·         Competition is limited in all areas of the economy;

·         Monopolistic pricing;

·      Violence in the expropriation of property, the rapid concentration of property and wealth in the hands of a small group; 

·         Limitation of free entrepreneurship, dominance of state-official (oligarch) entrepreneurship;   

·         Economic growth based on the appropriation of natural resource revenues; 

·         Weak human capital; 

·      Limitations in international economic integration. 

The current economic system is based on a reactionary legal institutional environment for decision-making on serving interests of the ruling political group: 

·         Human rights and freedoms, especially property rights, are not under effective protection; 

·         There is severe discrimination in the application of laws; 

·         There is no guarantee of contractual obligations; 

·         The judicial system is strictly dependent on the political (executive) power. 

Currently, the government role in the economy is reflected in the following: 

·         The macroeconomic regulation policy pursued by the government to maintain economic and financial stability in the country, in many cases even hinders economic growth;  

·         A lack of transparency and inefficiency in public procurement (the main source of corruption);

·         Failure to prevent unfair competition and monopolistic activities of privileged groups belonging to the ruling political elite in the economic sphere;  

·         Low quality of current services provided to the public across several sectors, despite their high cost;  

·   Poor and inefficient performance of the dominant state-owned business (companies) in the utilities and infrastructure sectors.

Virtually all government agencies carry out unjustified "interventions" in the markets: such interventions, presented as” stimulating the development of the industry”, are in fact aimed at restricting the free market mechanism in the sector by granting privileges and special preferences to certain groups concerned.

In short, there is currently a lack of fair and effective regulation in the country's current economic system.

3. What and how to change it? 

Practical application: 

• The submission of declarations of income and property by persons who are in high political office and have political and regulatory responsibilities as well as the public disclosure of the text of these declarations will be mandatory;
• There will be mechanisms to eliminate the conflict of interest;
• Disclosure for beneficial ownership of all enterprises (legal entities) operating in the country will be ensured;
• Opportunities for cooperation with companies operating inside the offshore zone will be limited;
• Legislation and everyone's equality before the law will be ensured, property inviolability will be ensured;
• A fair and independent judicial system will be established;
• An independent competition (anti-monopoly) institution will be established and the competitive situation in the field markets will be continuously monitored, exact criteria will be defined for evaluating monopoly activities, with unfair competition to be prevented;
• Financial and property amnesty will be announced, reliable mechanisms will be launched to recover flight capital and stolen assets as an investment;
• The necessary business-investment environment will be created to attract direct foreign investments to the non-oil sector, especially to the processing industry, with steps to be taken towards ensuring the activities of many well-known global industrial brands in the country;
• The development of cooperation in agriculture will be stimulated and the formation of large agricultural producers as cooperatives will be ensured:
• The formation of a manufacturing supply chain will be ensured for the production, processing and delivery of agricultural products to the consumer;
• An efficient mechanism for state procurement of agricultural products will be formed;
• Regional and rural development strategies and programs will be developed, with the development of non-agricultural areas in the regions to be ensured (especially the creation of a wide network of small and medium enterprises);
• The independence of the central bank will be ensured and it will be responsible for monetary and credit regulation;
• The same basic conditions for the activity of commercial banks will be provided;
• Capital markets will be developed;
• The accession of Azerbaijan to the World Trade Organization will be achieved;
• Conditions will be created for the creation of independent professional associations in the fields of economy; field development issues will definitely be discussed with the participation of those professional associations;
• The impact of adopted laws (legal-normative documents) on the business will be evaluated; as well as the laws affecting the business will enter into force six months after their acceptance;
• The activity frameworks of 'State entrepreneurship' will be limited (cases such as creation of state enterprises, acquisition of shares of any entrepreneurial subjects by the state, etc will require justification);
• With the efficient operation of large state-owned enterprises in the fields of natural monopoly, long-term management will be provided to world-renowned companies, their management will be ensured based on the public-private sector mechanism, transparency and accountability requirements for their activities will be tightened;
• Capitalization of large state enterprises and exchange of their shares in the securities market will be ensured;
• The register of natural monopoly activities will be specified, effective mechanisms will be launched to ensure competition in all areas not included in that register (especially in such areas included in the activities of large state enterprises);
• Institutional factors (laws, regulations, organizations, etc) that regulate the economy will be evaluated and all types of unnecessary and unjustified regulations and institutions will be eliminated;
• The tax burden of the business (including taxes, social payments, customs duties and payments, permits and other official payments) will be evaluated and its optimization will be ensured;

 Legal regulation: 

There will be established a legal institutional framework reflecting the mechanisms of the above activities.