First online public-private partnership agreement inked in country
By Leman Mammadova
An online agreement has been signed in Azerbaijan within the framework of public-private partnership, for the first time in the country's history.
The document was signed by Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communication (CAERC), PASHA Bank, B.EST Solutions and AzerTelecom during the third International Conference “Digital Trade Forum: Digitalization of the Silk Road”, organized by the CAERC, on October 9.
The event conference focused on digital projects along the Silk Road, financial and banking technologies, as well as e-government solutions.
Speaking at the event, Vusal Gasimli, Executive Director of the CAERC, said that Azerbaijan, located at the crossroads of the East-West and North-South corridors, supports not only transport, logistics, oil and gas projects, but also digital initiatives. “Azerbaijan created the second largest digital trading hub in the world, and began to cooperate with the Fourth Industrial Revolutionary Center,” Gasimli said.
“Azerbaijan is creating a physical digital infrastructure on the Great Silk Road, and actively involved in the provision of digital solutions on the Great Silk Road. A public-private partnership is implemented in Azerbaijan to digitize the Great Silk Road,” he noted.
Ibrahim Alishov, Acting Chairman of the Executive Board of Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FIMSA), said that regarding ongoing projects and reforms in digital transformation, the interaction between state bodies and banks and other participants of financial markets is inevitable.
“As part of the electronic and mobile residency, for the first time in Azerbaijan, non-residents will be able to open a bank account without going to bank, with the initiative of the Digital Trade Hub. Currently, activities are being undertaken to provide non-resident companies access to social services, as well as access to both private and public services,” he added.
“Achievements in the activity period of Digital Trade Hub and consistent reforms cause interest of Russia, Turkey, Georgia, UK, Spain, India and other countries,” he noted.
As part of the event, first e-Residency program director Kaspar Korjus made a presentation on the topic "Estonia's e-residency - experience and recommendations". He informed the participants about Estonia’s experience, development directions and future projects.
The conference continued with a panel discussion titled "Digital Innovations in the Social, Economic and Financial Spheres".
About 200 delegates from the U.S., Israel, Russia, the UK, Estonia, Turkey, Spain and other countries attended the forum.
As part of e-government, e-residency is a new format for interaction between government authorities and business.
Digital Trade Hub of Azerbaijan, for the first time in the world history, presented the mobile signature (ASAN Signature) to non-resident Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri, ISESCO Director General. Moreover, Azerbaijan was the second country to provide e-residency to foreigners after Estonia. The country presented e-residency to Kestutis Jankauskas, EU Ambassador to Azerbaijan.
So far, e-residency through Digital Trade Hub has been presented in Turkey, Russia, Lithuania, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, France, Pakistan and India.
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Leman Mammadova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @leman_888
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