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EU-Azerbaijan Business Summit scheduled for May

30 March 2016 10:57 (UTC+04:00)
EU-Azerbaijan Business Summit scheduled for May

By Amina Nazarli

The 2nd European-Azerbaijan Business Summit is scheduled for May 18, in Baku to eye the business opportunities in Azerbaijan and to establish business partnerships.

The EU-funded regional investment and trade facilitation project East Invest has announced the registration for the 2nd European-Azerbaijan Business Summit. This time, the event will focus on three priority areas: agriculture and food, transport and logistics, tourism, reports East Invest.

The summit will bring together national and international investment agencies, banks and venture capitalists who will be invited to engage in debates and offer relevant information to participants. The program will include an official opening and closing ceremony, panel discussions, workshops and business-to-business (B2B) meetings.

Also, the European Business Networking Meeting will take place on May 17, one day before the Business Summit, bringing together the EU businesses for an exchange of experience and to learn more about the results of the first-ever EU Business Climate Survey, which is currently being conducted. Any EU company interested in becoming active in Azerbaijan can join one or both of the events.

East Invest is a regional investment and trade facilitation project for the economic development of the Eastern Neighborhood region, launched in the framework of the European Eastern Partnership initiative. The project is funded by the European Union and targets Business support organizations and SMEs from the Eastern Partnership countries , including, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Republic of Moldova, Ukraine.

Azerbaijan, a rich country with abundant mineral and climatic resources, is located on a favorable geographical location, on the most convenient route from North-Eastern Europe to Central Asia and the Middle East. Its attractive domestic market generated by the huge oil and gas sector, the wealthy state, the growing demand of local firms for Western expertise and big purchasing power.

Recently, the state has made major investments in the development of marine, railway, automotive, utilities, and social infrastructures.

The favorable geographic location promises expansion of transport routes, which will further increase the country’s attractiveness to investors. The country has recently facilitated operation of SMEs by reducing the number of licensed activities and halving the amount of duty, simplifying the taxation, and suspending inspections for two years.

The tax burden in Azerbaijan is not high either. The country is also reviewing proposals to stimulate exports. Moreover, some bureaucratic hurdles were abolished.

The WB has predicted economic growth in Azerbaijan to amount to 0.8 percent this year and 1.2 percent in 2017, while forecast for global economy is 2.9 percent growth in 2016 and 3.1 percent in 2017.

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