The measures taken to improve the living standards of the people of Azerbaijan are of great importance, said President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.

The main purpose is to increase the power of the state and to strengthen the country’s independence, President Aliyev said addressing a conference dedicated to the results of fourth year implementation of "The State Program on socio-economic development of the regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2014-2018".

The head of state said that demographic processes in Azerbaijan have been upward over the past 14 years.

"In the past 14 years our population has grown by 1.5 million. During this period salaries and pensions have been increased several times and important social projects implemented. Thousands of schools, hundreds of medical institutions, and sports venues have been built. Development of entrepreneurship has been in the spotlight. Creating "ASAN Service" centers has turned into a revolution in public services,” he said.

President Aliyev added that the transport and energy projects implemented in Azerbaijan, which is already a cosmic country, require long-term and successful development.

"The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway has been one of the most important projects in recent years. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipelines are of great importance. All these projects have contributed to the long-term development of our country,” he said.