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Qabil Ashirov

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The reduction of Azerbaijan's economy's dependence on oil and gas exports is progressing quite successfully. Azerbaijani government intends to develop industrial production and increase non-oil exports with the help of Industrial Parks and Estates.

Currently, there are six industrial parks, four industrial districts, and 51 agricultural parks in Azerbaijan. In these parks, entrepreneurs enjoy a number of benefits and advantages. The total investments of residents in the industrial parks of the Republic of Azerbaijan are currently estimated at more than AZN 6.56b ($4bn). Over 70 enterprises were their residents, and 10.6 thousand permanent jobs were created.

Attracting investments to industrial zones is supported by the program of exempting imported machinery, technological equipment, and facilities from VAT for 10 years, including income tax, property tax, and land tax for 7 years.

The latest Industrial Park is Aghdam Industrial Park. The construction of the Park is ongoing. It was created on May 28, 2021, to develop the industrial potential of Garabagh, has the necessary infrastructure and management institutions for the implementation of entrepreneurial activities, the production, processing (recycling) and sale of competitive products in the industrial field through the application of modern technologies, as well as services It is an area that is used for showing and helps the effective activity and development of entrepreneurs. The Park will export its products in 2024.

In a comment to Azernews on the issue, economist and MP Vugar Bayramov noted that industrialization is one of the main priorities of economic policy in Azerbaijan. Industry support is provided in the form of special concessions to entrepreneurs in industrial parks. Practically, both in industrial parks and in their industrial estates, the main goal is to attract foreign investments and support local entrepreneurs in this direction.

“The latest statistics already show that industrial parks and enterprises have made a special contribution to the expansion of local production as a whole. As a result, there are increases in the weight of products produced in industrial parks in Azerbaijan's exports. From this context, industrial parks and estates are also a system that contributes to the increase of non-oil exports. The main difference is that business entities in industrial parks have the opportunity to use tax benefits. In general, the state forms infrastructure and entrepreneurs invest in industrial parks and estates, etc. Of course, the selection of innovative fields has become a priority here. However, it is observed that special support is shown by the state and small and medium entrepreneurs are attracted to industrial parks, as well,” Bayramov said.

He also touched on Aghdam Industrial Park and noted that the park has great potential. Foreign and local businessmen express great interest in the park. He pointed out that the Park will be the center of industry in Garabagh. He noted that the products manufactured in the Park will not only diverted to local markets but also will be exported. MP emphasized that after opening the Zangazur corridor, the importance of the Aghdam Industrial Park will increase.

“Agdam Industrial Park will have a special role in the development of Garabagh, because on the one hand, it is expected that Agdam will become an industrial center of the region, and on the other hand, there is a constant increase in the number of entrepreneurs investing in Agdam industrial park. This indicates that the products manufactured in Aghdam will not only satisfy the requirements of Garabagh and Azerbaijan as a whole, but will also expand Azerbaijan’s export opportunities. Therefore, it is planned to export some of the products manufactured in the Aghdam industrial park to foreign countries. This will also allow the products manufactured in Agdam Industrial Park to be exported to Nakhchivan, Turkiye, and other markets through Zangazur after the corridor is put into use in the future. From this point of view, the Agdam industrial park will make a special contribution to the development of the industrial potential and the development of the economy in Garabagh,” economist and MP Vugar Bayramov said.

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Qabil Ashirov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @g_Ashirov

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