Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

A congress of the National Confederation of Azerbaijani Entrepreneurs Organizations (NCAEO) adopted a statement on June 18 supporting the candidacy of President Ilham Aliyev at the presidential elections due this fall. The statement was unanimously passed by the participants of the event.

The statement says that the participants of the fourth NCAEO congress support the domestic and foreign policy pursued by the head of state. The participants noted that this policy has no alternative and should be continued for future development of Azerbaijan, and announced that they will unanimously support the candidacy of Ilham Aliyev at the October presidential elections.

"Every citizen now senses in their everyday life the speedy social-economic development achieved in Azerbaijan thanks to the merits of the head of state," the statement says. It hailed the fact that in the backdrop of the dire financial and economic problems facing the leading world countries, over the past 10 years, Azerbaijan's economy has grown three-fold, the currency reserves increased 29 times, and the poverty level declined nearly eight-fold to 6 percent. Moreover, over 1 million jobs have been created, and educational, social, healthcare and cultural facilities meeting the highest standards opened. International agencies and organizations have acknowledged the successes of Azerbaijan.

Today, Azerbaijani entrepreneurs successfully do business in countries around the world, relying on the political clout and economic strength of Azerbaijan.

The statement also says that thanks to the favorable conditions provided in the country for the development of entrepreneurship, the share of the private sector in GDP has reached 83 percent and 73 percent in employment.

'We believe that our native Azerbaijan, under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, will achieve even greater success, and our country will grow even stronger," the statement reads.

President Aliyev sent a congratulatory letter to the participants of the congress of the National Confederation. Minister of Economic Development Shahin Mustafayev read out the president's letter.

The President wrote that the confederation, which was established in 1999 and brought together thousands of entrepreneurs, has become more developed recently and has taken a worthy place in the social life of the country.

Azerbaijan has determined the main principles regulating the relations between the country and entrepreneurs today, the President said in his message.

"Supporting entrepreneurship is one of the important areas of the country's socio-economic development strategy," the letter says. It said the number of entrepreneurs is increasing rapidly; competitive enterprises are opening on the basis of cutting edge technologies; more investments are being made in the economy due to the reforms carried out in accordance with the current requirements, the state programs and large-scale infrastructure projects covering different areas, the consistent work in the area of sustainable improvement of the business and investment sphere, and state care of the private sector development.

"Azerbaijani businessmen have been successfully working in many countries worldwide, establishing mutually beneficial business relations. The progress in society constantly sets forth new challenges. The modern development tendencies further increase the responsibility of entrepreneurs, by requiring their readiness to respond to the current challenges. I am confident that decisions of the Congress will make a valuable contribution to the socio-economic development of the country. Once again I congratulate you and wish success in your activities," the letter reads.

The NCAEO congress also decided to establish ASK Biznes Konsaltinq company.

"Taking into account the increasing number of applications from foreign and local companies it becomes more difficult to provide them with consulting services. The scarcity of financial opportunities doesn't allow to pay due attention to this area as well as attract the needed specialists," the congress participants noted.

NCAEO Secretary General Mammadali Efendiyev was elected the head of the supervisory board of the company and NCAEO chief consultant Faig Samadov became the company's director.

In addition, by a decision of the Congress amendments were made to the bylaws of the Confederation, which suggest abbreviating the name of the organization as the "Confederation of Azerbaijani Entrepreneurs", etc.

The congress elected the president, vice presidents, new members of the Board, the Bureau, and the Audit Commission. Mammad Musayev was re-elected as president of NCAEO.