SMEs Development Agency to open new representative offices
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By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade
Small and medium-sized businesses play undisputedly significant role in the improvement of a country's economy. Development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) leads to the growth of the private sector, which is one of the priority directions of Azerbaijan’s current economic policy to stimulate the non-oil sector.
Orkhan Mammadov, Chairman of the Board of Agency for the Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), has told Trend that the Agency plans to open 20-25 representative offices in the Azerbaijan’s regions by the end of 2019.
Mammadov said that every month the Agency opens new Friend of SMEs offices and currently, there are 12 offices in Azerbaijan. He added that it is planned to bring this figure to 60, spread this network and embrace all regions of the country.
The chairman emphasized that the opening of the first House of SMEs in Baku is planned for the end of 2019 and this will be an open platform operating in the one-stop shop mode with the aim of providing various kinds of services to entrepreneurs, including consulting.
The House of SMEs will aim at ensuring efficiency, transparency and easy access of entrepreneurs to financial resources.
The Small and Medium Business Development Agency under the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan was established by the decree of the President of Azerbaijan dated December 28, 2017. The presidential decree of June 26, 2018 approved the statute and structure of the Agency.
The main task of the Agency is to ensure the succession of reforms, improvement of the business regulation system, and application of effective coordination, enhancing the role and competitiveness of SMEs in the country's economy, as well as the compliance of the management system in this area with modern requirements.
As a single structure with special powers, the Agency organizes, coordinates, evaluates and regulates the services provided by government agencies and organizations in this area through the SME houses.
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Mirsaid Ibrahimzade is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @MirsaidIbrahim1
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