EBRD: Azerbaijan has favorable conditions for investment in securities market
By Aynur Jafarova
Azerbaijan has provided favorable conditions for investment in the securities market, Vice President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for Finance, Manfred Schepers, has said in a meeting with Deputy Chairman of Azerbaijan's State Committee for Securities Ilgar Muradov in Baku.
During the meeting the parties discussed the expansion of cooperation, which, according to Muradov, will create new opportunities in the domestic securities market.
Muradov briefed the interlocutors on the reforms successfully implemented in Azerbaijan in recent years, as a result of which the indicators of socio-economic development reached new highs, the infrastructure of the securities market has dynamically developed, and good results in shaping modern market architecture have been achieved.
He also spoke about the objectives of the state program for the development of the securities market in Azerbaijan for 2011-2020.
The total turnover of transactions on all instruments at the Baku Stock Exchange (BSE) in January-April 2013 amounted to 2.143 billion manats. The market of government securities exceeded 1.92 billion manats, while the corporate securities turnover constituted 220.81 million manats. The corporate securities market nearly tripled.
The official exchange rate as of June 1 was 0.7846 AZN/USD.
According to a recent report of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA), Azerbaijan's economy and banking sector retained their attractiveness for foreign investors in the first quarter of 2013.
Established in November 2008, Azerbaijan's State Committee for Securities is in charge of regulating activity in the securities market, creating favorable investment conditions, creating and maintaining an environment for healthy and fair competition in the securities market, protecting the rights of investors and shareholders, etc.
The EBRD has been working in Azerbaijan since the republic gained independence in 1991. Its focus is on helping to speed up reforms and address some of the challenges facing Azerbaijan. The bank is focused on three main areas: industry, commerce and agribusiness, finance and energy and infrastructure.
Priority areas include increasing investments in the country's non-oil sector, funding financial sector development and support for small business entrepreneurs.
The bank seeks to engage with other international financial institutions and the business community in policy dialogue with the authorities, in order to implement reforms and improve the investment climate which includes advisory support, institution building and legal transition work, mobilizing donor financing in support of the preparation and implementation of projects, etc.