아제르바이잔 경제에서 천연자원의 역할

The Role of Natural Resources in the Economy of Azerbaijan: Based on National Oil Company and Sovereign Wealth Fund

Azerbaijan is one of the CIS countries largely dependent on natural resources, especially on oil. After the Soviet breakup, Azerbaijan actively developed natural resources with the vigorous expansion of Western countries. Since the late 1990s, the economic growth of Azerbaijan has progressed faster with the production of a large-scale oil field. The government has maintained control over its resources as a way to participate equally in the project through the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) rather than fully transferring resourcedevelopment initiative to Western companies. Fulfilling government policy for energy resources, SOCAR supplied energy to the state-owned enterprises that do not have the ability to pay for. And maintaining high levels of employment, regardless of the company’s efficiency, SOCAR plays a role to spread the revenue from the sale of natural resources evenly in the economy. The government also absorbs the assets from sales of natural resources through the Sovereign Wealth Fund. Government invests this capital in major public projects such as infrastructure construction and refugee relief projects. A large portion of the Sovereign Wealth Fund is transferred to the government budget; this proportion has increased significantly since 2008. The Azerbaijani government should facilitate non-resource sectors of national economy and diversify industries by efficient utilization of the fund in light of emerging prospects for energy and resource depletion.