Success Story of President Ilham Aliyev Government: “Garabagh’s Reconstruction Signals a Shift from Recovery to Renewal”
Baku, December 24, AZERTAC
Muhammad Ali Pasha, Chairman of The Gulf Observer Research Forum and Patron-In-Chief of The Gulf Observer, authored an exclusive article titled “A Success Story of President Ilham Aliyev Government: Garabagh’s Reconstruction Signals a Shift from Recovery to Renewal” for AZERTAC. The full version of the article is presented below.
“The visit of President Ilham Aliyev to Garabakh on December 23 was not only a visit to the new facilities that had just been opened, but also a direct political and economic message. The post-conflict policy of Azerbaijan in the liberated regions is no longer based on the recovery process only. It is also decisively heading in the right direction of renewal one that constructs a self-sufficient regional economy that is to last beyond the first period of reconstruction.
The visit revealed the unity in the agenda. Within one day, the president go through to the projects in housing restoration, education, energy security, industrial production, and tourism. This was not a set of single action initiatives, but a manifestation of an integrated model of development where every sector supports the other.
This logic can be found in the resettlement process in Karkijahan. The rehabilitation of housing has come along with restoring of utilities, roads, and communications- a recognition that symbolic returns are not enough when living conditions are not viable. It is the change of the dislocation into permanence and an indication that Garabagh is rebuilt not only to statistics but to people.
The other pillar that came out was education. The reopening of a secondary school and the growth of Garabagh University indicates a long term perspective whereby human capital is central in the reconstruction. The state is making sure that the skills needed to develop the region are not imported by matching the academic programs with the engineering, economics and technology. This way, Garabagh is not just being marketed as a place to live, but a place to study, to be creative, and to work.
The ones on public narratives are energy infrastructure, which turned out to be a silent yet very important enabler. It is based on the new Khankendi-1 substation and general modernization of the power grid, the support of the social life and the industry. Factories, universities, as well as households cannot operate sustainably without good electricity. The magnitude of energy investment is an indication of a realization that infrastructure will either make or break all other development aspirations.
The openings of industries in Khojaly and Aghdam are also further examples of the transition to economic normalization and great success of President Ilham Aliyev. Through industrial parks and state incentives, export-oriented production, private investment and job creation is being pursued. This will decrease the dependence on the expenditures of the state in the long run and will incorporate the liberated territories into national and international chains of supply.
The opening of the Hilton Garden Inn in Aghdam is also another landmark. In post-conflict locations, tourism, and services are typically future demand. Their immaturity in this regard is an indication of their optimism regarding security, stability and future demand. It is also indicative of wider goals of providing Aghdam as a business, transport, and service center in the region.
Collectively, the President visit demonstrated Garabagh not only as reconstruction zone, but in fact, it is a territory that is actively being reintegrated into the economic and institutional life of Azerbaijan. The focus on parallel building, homes, and schools, factories and power generation, is an indication of a direct intent to construct a reciprocal socio-economic ecosystem.
To which I would want to say that, the transformation in Garabagh is not just about rebuilding what has been destroyed. It is concerned with redefining the potential that the region can be. The effectiveness of President Ilham Aliyev strategy will not be viewed by the number of projects that were opened, but by the ability of the family to remain, business to thrive, and the area to maintain peace through wealth and prosperity.”
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