Azernews.Az

By Sara Israfilbayova

Azerbaijan and Turkey are eager to strengthen cooperation in the sphere of labor and social protection of the population.

This is envisaged in the protocol signed following the 9th meeting of the joint permanent commission for labor and social protection, which is being held in Baku.

The protocol was signed by Azerbaijan’s Minister of Labor and Social Protection of Population Salim Muslumov and Minister of Labor and Social Security of Turkey Julide Sarieroglu.

Muslumov said that the protocol envisages the expansion of cooperation and the exchange of experience in labor market regulation.

“Moreover, it envisages the expansion of cooperation as part of mutual granting of work permits. We are also going to use Turkey’s experience with the transition from the informal to the formal labor market and a number of other issues,” added the Azerbaijani minister.

Muslumov said that at present in this area there are a number of issues that will be discussed by the ministries of both countries.

Touching upon the issue of reducing the amount of duties for obtaining a work permit, the minister noted that this issue can not be considered only from the standpoint of relations between the two countries.

“According to our legislation, the payment for obtaining a work permit in Azerbaijan is 1,000 manat ($588). It is not possible to specify each country separately, so it is necessary to settle this issue with a bilateral agreement,” the minister stressed.

He also noted that the next meeting of the joint commission will be held in Ankara in 2019.

Further, answering the questions of reporters, the minister noted that Azerbaijan plans to attract about 6,000-7,000 families to the self-employment program in 2018.

“As you know, last year we adopted the “Law on Unemployment Insurance,” which came into force on January 1 this year,” Muslumov said, adding that the funds to be collected as part of this law will be accumulated in the Unemployment Insurance Fund, and about 40 percent of these funds will be directed to implementation of self-employment programs.

President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on application of the law “On unemployment insurance,” on August 7. The insurance premiums on the part of the insured make up 0.5 percent of the salary, insurance premiums on the part of the insurer will be 0.5 percent of the calculated wage fund, in accordance with the law.

Calculation of the monthly insurance payment is made as follows: 50 percent of the lost monthly salary with labor experience of 3 to 5 years; 55 percent of the lost monthly salary - with labor experience of 5 to 10 years; 60 percent of the lost monthly salary with labor experience of over 10 years.

The minister reminded that last year, 6 million manats ($3.5 million) were allocated for the self-employment program, and the program covered about 1,300 families.

The fund’s revenues and expenditures for 2018 are approved at 89.04 million manats ($52.4 million).

Of the total expenditures of the fund, 35.802 million manats ($21.06 million) will be allocated for organization of events for self-employment, 33.478 million manats ($19.7 million) - for unemployment insurance benefits, 13.709 million manats ($8.06 million) - for maintaining administration of the employment service and its local bodies, 1.788 million manats ($1.05 million) - for paid public work, 1.613 million manats ($948,700) - for professional training and additional education, 1.38 million manats ($811,700) - for co-financing (together with an insurer) of a part of salary of those insured for a certain period, 1.15 million manats ($676,400) - for career counseling, 120,000 manats ($70,500) - for organization of labor fairs and stock exchanges.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz