Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 13 / Trend A. Akhundov /
The bill on tourism which is being developed in Azerbaijan, envisages measures to promote the attraction of investments in this sector of the economy, Azerbaijani Minister of Culture and Tourism Abulfas Garayev told Trend today.
"We are currently developing a bill on tourism which involves action to encourage private investments in the sector," he said. "We will conduct measures within the new law that will boost the attraction of investments to Azerbaijan. This is connected not only with taxation, but other issues."
He said that at present, this sector is attractive enough to use more favourable conditions to work in this sector.
"However, similar measures are being taken for special projects and infrastructure development in specialised areas, particularly in tourist ones," Garayev said. "A number of decisions of the Cabinet of Ministers have been taken. All of them are implemented within the legislation. We believe that it is correct because today investment flow into the sector is quite active."
Azerbaijan has submitted a bill on 'Tourism' to the World Tourism Organisation's expertise (WTO). After getting recommendations from the WTO, the bill will be submitted to the Azerbaijani relevant bodies, the ministry told Trend earlier.
The bill has been prepared taking into account the recommendations of the international organisations in the sphere of tourism and proposals of the Azerbaijani state bodies. In February it was submitted for public discussion.
The bill includes a number of innovations that will give an impetus to the development of tourism. In particular, it was proposed to create licensed companies as tour operators. It is also proposed to create the state tourism register which will include the status of tourism resources, geographical location and boundaries of tourism resources, recreational areas and facilities, individuals and organisations obtaining licenses for tourist activity.
The bill also envisages health insurance for tourists traveling from Azerbaijan to other countries.