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IFC’s Partnership with BP and Seco to Improve Business Climate in Azerbaijan

Business Materials 7 July 2008 18:12 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan, Baku, 7 July / corr. Trend I.Khalilova / The International Finance Corporation (IFC) announced on the commencement of a project on economic issues to improve business climate in Azerbaijan jointly implemented with BP company and Swiss State Secretariat, the IFC said on 7 July.

This 5-year program envisages support to durable and overall economic growth through the improvement of business climate for entrepreneurs of the country. This project targets reducing obstacles in entrepreneur's activities, monitoring into business climate through survey among small and medium entrepreneurship and improving legal knowledge of entrepreneurs through holding of enlightenment work.

The Azerbaijani Government has launched to hold reforms in the registration process of entrepreneurship activities through the introduction of 'unified window' principle in 2007-2008. Work is done to improve the licensing system in the construction sector, protection of investors' rights. Furthermore, changes were injected into tax system and labor activities.

"The IFC is prepared to support reforms in simplification of administrative procedures and prevention of main regulating obstacles to begin entrepreneurship activities. Particularly, the IFC will assist the Government in application of improved legislation, which regulates the licensing system and issue of license.

Seco supplies the government with the grant in the amount of $4.3mln to improve business climate.

The IFC assisted in injecting changes and adopting 11 main legislative acts, which enabled small and medium enterprises to save $93mln for.

The exchange rate of US dollar was AZN 0.8101 on 7 July.

The correspondent can be contacted at: [email protected]

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