Azernews.Az

By Leman Mammadova

Development of entrepreneurship is one of the important terms for country's socio-economic growth.

A center for rendering services to entrepreneurs and business incubation has opened in Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani Deputy Minister of Economy Sahib Mammadov said.

Mammadov made the remarks in Baku at the opening ceremony of the center, Trend reports.

“The opening of the center is aimed at developing the private sector and rendering support to entrepreneurship in Azerbaijan,” he said.

Mammadov stressed that Azerbaijan makes maximum efforts to enhance the role of the private sector in the economy and also takes measures aimed at raising the level of entrepreneurial activity.

"The opening of new centers for rendering services to entrepreneurs will greatly improve the level of quality of private business, as well as positively affect the strengthening of the mechanism of small and medium-sized businesses in Azerbaijan," he said.

Mammadov said that support will be rendered to the novice entrepreneurs, as well as to young people having innovative ideas through the newly opened center.

“The conditions will also be created for the implementation of start-ups aimed at improving the business sphere in Azerbaijan,” he said.

In addition, Sahib Mammadov noted at the briefing that the reforms carried out in Azerbaijan contributed to the acceleration of the development of the private sector, as well as strengthening of the capabilities of the real sector of the economy.

“The Azerbaijani Entrepreneurship Development Fund has issued preferential loans worth 2.3 billion manats to 35,000 entrepreneurs up till now,” he said. “These loans are envisaged for implementation of the projects worth 5.1 billion manats.”

Mammadov stressed that a stable base has been created to support entrepreneurship in the country, which is being improved with the support of the public sector.

“This stable base is aimed at improving the business sphere in Azerbaijan and creating optimal conditions for improving the quality of business and the services being rendered to the population,” he said.

The Azerbaijani Entrepreneurship Development Fund was established on the basis of the National Fund for Entrepreneurship Support, operating in the country since 1997. This year, the fund intends to issue preferential loans worth 160 million manats.

Recently, new categories of entrepreneurship approved in Azerbaijan.

Previously, the categories of entrepreneurs in the country were divided into small, medium and large enterprises, the new category includes also the micro businesses which covers companies with a staff of one to ten people and an annual income of up to 200,000 manat ($ 117 682).

Development of small and medium-sized businesses leads to the growth of entrepreneurship which is one of the priority directions of Azerbaijan’s economic policy.

Small and medium-sized businesses play an important role in development of the country's economy.

The share of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Azerbaijan’s foreign trade is planned to increase to 40 percent after 2025.

The Agency for the Development of Small and Medium Business of Azerbaijan was established in 2017 to ensure the consistency of reforms, as well as the improvement of the business regulation system and the application of effective coordination, enhancement of the role and competitiveness of small and medium-sized businesses in the country's economy, and the compliance of the management system of this sphere with modern requirements.

Recently, Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communications of Azerbaijan and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) organized the international conference titled "Economic Reforms: Development and Diversification of Entrepreneurship" in Baku, to further strengthen ties between the Eurasian region and OECD countries, expand cooperation in the economic and social development of the region, and discuss ways to solve existing problems in these areas.

The conference was attended by high-ranking representatives of the government of Azerbaijan and international organizations.

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Leman Mammadova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @leman_888

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