Azernews.Az

By Sara Israfilbayova

The Parliament discussed the plan of legislative works of the spring session at the plenary session on February 1. Among other issues the bill “On Alat Free Trade Zone” was considered and discussed.

Parliament Member of the Committee on Economic Policy Rufat Guliyev said that in the shortest possible time, and the most rapid way the bill on Alat FTZ will be adopted, as for this there is the political will and the decision of the President Ilham Aliyev.

He went on to say that as a result of this project hundreds of millions of investments will be delivered to the country.

Alat FTZ will be something extraordinary and will differ from all existing free trade zones. The conditions for investors in Alat can be compared with the FTZ in the United Arab Emirates, as well as with the four largest FTZs in China, according to the MP.

Guliyev pointed out that the new law is being developed jointly with foreign organizations that submit their proposals.

According to his forecast, the results of the activity of Alat FTZ can be felt in six months or a year.

Residents of the FTZ are offered to be exempted from customs duties and taxes. The creation of a business services center, which will be responsible for issuing appropriate permits and documents on the principle of “one window” is envisaged.

Earlier, President of the World Free & Special Economic Zones Federation (FEMOZA) Juan Torrents told Azernews that Baku has capacity to host a Free Trade Zone.

President Aliyev signed a decree on March 17, 2016, on measures to create a Free Trade Zone type special economic area covering the territory of the Baku International Sea Trade Port in the Alat township of Baku’s Garadagh district.

The FTZ is expected to bring up to $1 billion just in the first few years. Special tax and customs policy, which will be pursued in the territory of the free trade zone will also stipulate further development and simplification of a number of procedures.

FTZ will be located within the grounds of the new port, covering an area of 100 hectares. Since the new port is being built at the major railway juncture connect­ing the North-South and the East-West railway lines in Azerbaijan, FTZ will also have rail access. Serving as a multimodal transit logis­tics hub, the new port and FTZ will become a major consolidation and distribution centre in Central Eurasia that provides a wide range of value added services.

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