III Azeri conference В"Development of uniform financial sector in AzerbaijanВ" launched in Baku today. Trend reports this event involves Azerbaijan MIcrofinancing Association and is financially supported by USAID, BP, Statoil, Lukoil, ExxonMobil, UNDP and ACDI\VOCA .
Ali Hasanov, vice premier of Azeri government, said microfinancing programs in the country started in 1996. During these 10 years international organizations executed their programs in the country and in 2002 started establishing non-banking credit agencies.
At the moment there are over 70 humanitarian organizations and 32 local NGOs operating in this sphere in Azerbaijan. Hasanov stated the growth of need in microfinancing organizations alongside economic development.
Elman Rustamov, CEO, National Bank of Azerbaijan, underlined the role of financial agencies in non-oil sector of the country. В"Our objective is to establish financial sector in a broad meaning of this word. Non-banking credit agencies may operate where banks failВ", - Rustamov said.
The government and international organizations can take steps to develop infrastructure and create a competitive environment, said Mikail Jabbarov, deputy Finance Minister. With this purpose, the government decided to grant non-banking credit agencies an access to resources of National Fund for Business Support.
Eldar Jafarov, chief of Microfinancing Association, informed the conference participants that non-banking credit agencies credited 200k clients at $265mln to date.
