Azerbaijani Pres tells govt to minimize impact of economic crisis.

BAKU. February 23. KAZINFORM President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan has told the government to minimize the impact of the global economic crisis on the Azerbaijani republic.

As he addressed a conference on the results of implementationn of the national program for development of regions from 2004 through 2008, Aliyev said: "We haven't felt the impact of the crisis yet." "We must act in a way that will help reduce it to the minimum and I'm sure we'll attain this goal," he said. Aliyev admitted that the implementation of large-scale projects in the oil and gas industry has furnished Azerbaijan with substantial financial opportunities, which it is using today efficiently. "They /opportunities/ make it possible to state that Azerbaijan has a well-established economy now," he said. According to Aliyev, "the country used financial benefits from crude oil in a very appropriate way -- we invested these monies in the real sector of the economy, infrastructure and the social sphere and this averted a stratification of our society." He made accent on the importance of continued efforts to develop the oil sector. "We must use all the opportunities for bringing all the criteria in this country in compliance with criteria of the developed nations," Aliyev said; Kazinform cites Itar-Tass. "The developed nations have become developed thanks to diversification of the economy, the strengthening of democracy, technological progress, and high levels of education," he said.