Baku, October 13 (AZERTAC). “I have repeatedly said that our initiatives serve the deepening of regional cooperation. I have also said that Azerbaijan's role in the region today is so great that not a single initiative can be put forward without respect for our interests. This project will multiply our importance. Azerbaijan will become stronger and expand its influence,” said President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers dedicated to the results of socioeconomic development in nine months of 2014 and objectives for the future.

The head of state said: “Southern Gas Corridor project will bring Azerbaijan great benefits in the coming decades, at least for a hundred years. Perhaps today we cannot entirely appreciate the extent of the benefit. When we were starting the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, we saw it only as a project, of course. But look at the scale of change this project has brought about. Our international cooperation has expanded and financial opportunities increased.”

“Therefore, both during and after the construction of the Southern Gas Corridor, we may receive benefits that are difficult to imagine at this stage, but all of them will bring benefits to Azerbaijan because our gas resources are fairly large.”

“We have started to invest in foreign countries and fully ensured our own economic and energy security,” President Ilham Aliyev added.