BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 19. Azerbaijan's Small and Medium Business Development Agency (SMBDA) received 1,339 applications from entrepreneurs wishing to start a business on the country's liberated lands, at the beginning of 2023, Chairman of the SMBDA Management Board Orkhan Mammadov said during a press conference on the 2022 results, Trend reports.
According to him, a total of 873 requests were submitted by local investors, 466 of them – by investors from 37 foreign countries.
"Among the foreign investment applications, entrepreneurs from Türkiye, Kazakhstan, Hungary and Russia prevail. In addition, 36 percent of investment bids came from the trade and services sector, 27 percent – from industry, 26 percent – from agriculture, and 11 percent – from construction, tourism, healthcare, education, and culture," he said.
Mammadov reminded that in 2022, the Business Support Center was launched in the Aghali village of the Zangilan district to render services for small and medium enterprises based on public-private partnership.
Meanwhile, SMEs provide employment opportunities and economic stability to any country, including Azerbaijan. The role of SMEs in the diversification of the country is invaluable. The benefits, being applied from January 1, 2023, projects to be implemented in liberated lands are designed to ensure the stable and profitable economic activity.