BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 8. The role of women in Azerbaijan's economy, employment, and private sector development is increasing, Trend reports referring to the Small and Medium Business Development Agency of Azerbaijan (SMBDA).
In particular, interest in micro- and small- entrepreneurship and self-employment has increased.
As of January 1, 2023, 22 percent of entrepreneurs registered to carry out entrepreneurial activities without creating a legal entity, were women. Women entrepreneurs work in such fields as agriculture, services, and other industries. Some 29.9 percent of women entrepreneurs are registered in Baku, 10.2 percent - in Lankaran-Astara zone, 8.9 percent - in Gazakh-Tovuz zone, and the rest - in other economic regions of Azerbaijan.
Furthermore, the SMBDA also conducts relevant activities to promote female entrepreneurship in the country, including training and consultations in the field of business, access to financial resources and sales markets, grants, internal market research, startup certificates, and so on.
As part of financing educational, scientific, research, and ancillary projects of SMEs, the agency has currently decided to provide financing for 40 projects, 9 of which were submitted by women entrepreneurs.
Only in 2022, about 3,000 female entrepreneurs passed business training on various topics arranged by the agency's centers for the development of SMEs. Currently, more than 100 women entrepreneurs and managers have participated in the "German-Azerbaijani Joint Program", coordinated by the SMBDA.
A total of 11 women entrepreneurs were granted startup certificates.
In 2022, more than 40 percent of 1,050 economic entities that used the agency's support mechanism for participation in exhibitions and fairs were enterprises of women entrepreneurs. In addition, out of the 25 business entities that have used the mechanism to support access to retail chains, 12 are enterprises run by women entrepreneurs.