More than 200 speakers and delegates from across Europe, the US and Azerbaijani business community, representatives of the government flocked to the IET Conference Centre in London on 12-13 May to attend The European Azerbaijan Society's inaugural Business Forum. This was organized in collaboration with the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the UK and the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO). Forming part of the celebrations to commemorate the 20th anniversary of regaining Azerbaijani independence, the event illustrated the full array of current and future opportunities for western investors, both in the hydrocarbon and non-oil sectors.
Ernst & Young was among the Gold Sponsors of this event. Ilgar Veliyev, Ernst & Young's Country Managing Partner for Azerbaijan, spoke at the Forum on opportunities and challenges of doing business in Azerbaijan. He highlighted the importance of developing the non-oil sector of economy, the need for further investments in human capital, as well as the need to continue the regulatory reforms in order to make Azerbaijan more attractive for foreign investors. Ilgar Veliyev stressed that Ernst & Young, being the first international accounting firm to open its practice in Azerbaijan, believes in high potential of Azerbaijan's economy and will continue to support its development.
About Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. Worldwide, our 141,000 people are united by our shared values and an unwavering commitment to quality. We make a difference by helping our people, our clients and our wider communities achieve their potential.
Ernst & Young expands its services and resources in accordance with clients' needs throughout the CIS. 3,500 professionals work at 18 offices in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Ekaterinburg, Kazan, Krasnodar, Togliatti, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Almaty, Astana, Atyrau, Baku, Kyiv, Donetsk, Tashkent, Tbilisi, and Minsk.
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Ernst & Young in Azerbaijan
Ernst & Young has made a major commitment to Azerbaijan and the region with the opening of our office in Baku 1 7 years ago and the growth of our local financial service industry group. Today, in addition to being a leading audit firm in Azerbaijan, we are the leading firm in the region. Because of our experience and depth of knowledge, we have been able to assist both domestic and international companies as well as state-owned entities in developing them to face the challenges of the international economy.
We currently have more than 120 staff in our Baku practice, which served our clients, including banks and other financial institutions, in Azerbaijan. The strength of Ernst & Young in the Caspian Region and the firm's commitment of resources are important to the entities operating in the region. It means that as we grow, Ernst & Young will continue to demonstrate a tradition of hiring and training local professionals to be leaders in our practice.
For more information, please refer to http: //www.ey.com/Azerbaijan.