Azernews.Az

Measures aimed at supporting small and medium enterprises in Azerbaijan will accelerate the formation of a middle class, an Economic Development Ministry official said at the international conference on 'Middle class in Azerbaijan: social, economic, political dynamics and prospects' on Wednesday.

"Azerbaijan is conducting comprehensive measures to develop entrepreneurship," Zaur Gasimov, head of the ministry's Department for Entrepreneurship Development Policy, said. "Around 284 enterprises have been built in the country for nine months. Around 444 more are being built. While supporting small and medium entrepreneurship, we will speed up the formation of the middle class which is a very large consumer, investor and taxpayer group."

Director of the Centre for Strategic Studies under the Azerbaijani President Farhad Mammadov said that the state program on social and economic development of the country's regions for 10 years, rather than five years, is expected to be adopted in February next year.

Mammadov said that the emerging middle class will play a special role in achieving the goal of doubling GDP over the next 10 years.

"Oil strategy, which has been successfully implemented for the past 20 years, forms the basis of economic development in the country," he said. "However, the country's economy will be diversified in the future. From this point of view the role of the middle class is important."

Chairman of the parliamentary committee on economic policy Ziyad Samadzade said that it is necessary to think about changing the legislation and the Tax Code to accelerate the formation of a middle class in Azerbaijan.

"A new economic system has been rapidly formed in Azerbaijan," he said. "The fact that the middle class has not been formed in the country is not the fault of the system. This has happened nowhere in the world for 20 years. These processes take time."

The conference is organised by the Centre for Strategic Studies and the World Bank.