Azernews.Az

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) continues to implement a range of advisory projects aimed at encouraging private sector growth.

IFC will support Azerbaijan in attracting investment, in particular, foreign direct investment in the non-oil sector and support diversification, Jan van Bilsen, IFC Regional Manager for the South Caucasus, told Trend.

He considers that since agriculture is one of the main sources of jobs in Azerbaijan, the industry must be competitive in both domestic and foreign markets.

Van Bilsen mentioned that IFC will continue to support Azerbaijan in unleashing the power of its private sector through strategic reforms that help attract investment.

As the regional manager noted, the Corporation also supports Azerbaijan in increasing competitiveness and ensuring sustainable growth.

He pointed out that IFC signed cooperation agreements with the Ministries of Economy and Agriculture of Azerbaijan last week, as well as with the Food Safety Agency.

Van Bilsen stressed that these agreements will be of great importance for the achievement of all goals.

IFC regional manager added that the aim of cooperation is to facilitate business and attract investment in the non-oil economy of Azerbaijan.

He noted that the agricultural sector faces a number of challenges. Van Bilsen considers value chains need further development and the food safety management system needs further improvement.

"To address existing challenges, our aim is to help streamline regulations and modernize the national food safety management system," van Bilsen concluded.

IFC is a sister organization of the World Bank and member of the World Bank Group. It is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector in developing countries. The Bank Group has set two goals for the world to achieve by 2030: end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity in every country.

IFC leverages its products and services, as well as products and services of other institutions across the World Bank Group, in order to create markets that address the biggest development challenges of time. The Corporation applies its financial resources, technical expertise, global experience, and innovative thinking to help its clients and partners overcome financial, operational, and other challenges.

IFC is also a leading mobilizer of third-party resources for projects. The Corporation’s willingness to engage in difficult environments and its leadership in crowding-in private finance enable to extend footprint and have a development impact well beyond direct resources.

Azerbaijan became a member of IFC in 1995. IFC has been supporting the Azerbaijani private sector for over 20 years and has invested $500 million within this period. Investments worth $350 million were directed for trade financing and investments were also made in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. The funds have financed over 50 long-term projects across a range of sectors, including financial services, infrastructure, and manufacturing.

Recently, IFC made proposals for creating a mechanism for supporting the dialogue between the private and public sectors of Azerbaijan. One of them deals with the improvement of the overall investment climate, and the second with providing support in drafting and introducing amendments to the legislation, evaluating their impact on the business environment and the economy as a whole.

---

Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz