Azernews.Az

By Nazrin Gadimova

ADA University hosted a panel discussion entitled "Start your own business! Become an Entrepreneur in Azerbaijan" on March 13.

The event, organized by the Advisory Council on Entrepreneurship (ACE), brought together Chief Financial Officer of FINCA Azerbaijan Marco De Natale, Head of World Bank's Baku office Larisa Leshchenko and Head of EBRD Baku office Neil McCain , as well as students and staff members of the university.

Founder and CEO of GoldenPay Farid Ismayilzade, Head of AaBacus Asif Humbatov and Head of Qaya Real Estate Akif Aliyev also joined the event.

The event discussed various topics, including ways to identify a good business in Azerbaijan, steps that should be taken before creating a business, ways to become a successful start-up in Azerbaijan, ways to manage small business into corporations, and others.

Speaking at the event, Larisa Leshchenko said finances and skills are the two main points in starting a business in Azerbaijan.

However, young people have to be creative to start a business in this country, she added.

Farid Ismayilzade, for his part, said there are a number of successful businesses that can be easily copied and replicated in Azerbaijan.

Then, Akif Aliyev informed participants about huge potential of ICT and real estate in Azerbaijan.

President of ADA University's EMBA Class, Jamilya Talibzade, in turn, spoke about the effort of EMBA's students to come up with business initiatives.

"ACE would serve undergraduates and young Azerbaijanis, who have the desire to become entrepreneurs," she said. "ACE should be seen as a platform of support."

Moderated by Nick Nwolisa, an EMBA student of ADA University, the event brought together over 100 representatives of different institutions.

Based on the success of this first event, ACE will continue to organize subsequent events on different aspects of entrepreneurship, and to support business initiatives in Azerbaijan.

Founded by the Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry and chartered by a Presidential decree, ADA University is dedicated to preparing innovative global leaders and promoting useful collaborative research on diplomacy, public and international affairs, business, humanities and sciences, information technologies, and system engineering.