Baku, Azerbaijan, March 1
By Anvar Mammadov – Trend:
The Agency for Development of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) has been established under the Ministry of Economy under the decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, dated Dec. 28, 2017.
Minister of Economy Shahin Mustafayev spoke to Trend News Agency regarding the activities of the new Agency and its role in the development of entrepreneurship.
Mr. Minister, what is the necessity of establishing this authority?
The measures on further expansion of entrepreneurship activity, further improvement of business and investment environment in our country continue in line with the socio-economic development policy implemented under the leadership of the Azerbaijani president. Reforms meeting the new economic conditions are being carried out in order to support the private sector, the protection of entrepreneurs’ rights and interests, and the mechanisms that meet modern challenges are being used, taking into account international experience. The number of entrepreneurship subjects has increased by 4.3 times over the past 15 years as a result of measures of state support for entrepreneurship, and the share of private sector in gross domestic product exceeded 80 percent, and the share of employment exceeded 75 percent.
Ensuring the continuity of success achieved as a result of implemented measures makes it necessary to improve the regulation of entrepreneurial activity, and the use of a systematic approach to expanding the volume and scope of technical, financial and other services for entrepreneurs, especially small and medium-sized entrepreneurship, and improving their quality.
All this, as well as the targets defined in the “Strategic Road Map for the Production of Consumer Goods at the level of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in the Republic of Azerbaijan”, dated Dec. 6, 2016, approved by a decree of the president of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the head of state signed a decree on further improvement of the management of small and medium-sized enterprises. Under the decree, the Agency for Development of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises of the Republic of Azerbaijan has been established under the Ministry of Economy.
Progressive international management practices used in entrepreneurship development and regulation have been studied while preparing the proposals in this area. There are relevant institutions in several developed countries that assist in the introduction of investment, modern technologies, advanced management practices in entrepreneurship, especially for the development of SMEs and, this way, encourage innovative mechanisms and foreign economic activity in order to produce high-quality, competitive and export-oriented products, provide information, legal and economical advisory services to subjects of entrepreneurial activity, and in the establishment of effective cooperation with government, local and foreign partners.
The establishment of the Agency for Development of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, which will play a special role in the development of the private sector in Azerbaijan, is another example of the great attention and care paid by the head of state to the development of the private sector, especially small and medium-sized enterprises.
What are the main activities of the agency?
Under the decree of the Azerbaijani president, the main task of the Agency for Development of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises is to increase the role and competitiveness of SMEs in the country, support their development, provide services to SMEs, coordinate activities of state authorities and organizations, preparation of proposals for improvement of state regulation system with regard to SMEs, as well as the use of advanced international experience in the field of state support.
According to the tasks set by the head of state, the agency will assist in the development of support infrastructure for SMEs and will ensure the luring of funds from domestic, foreign and international organizations in order to support SMEs, and the preparation and implementation of targeted programs.
Another area of the Agency's activity is arranging access to training, consulting, information, innovation, law, finance, human (personnel) and information and communication resources related to entrepreneurial activity of SMEs, marketing and sale support, project management, corporate management and other communicative mechanisms used in international practice, as well as services provided by the state bodies and organizations in a single space "SME houses", and digitalization of services provided to them.
All these services will be implemented in accordance with the principles of operability, transparency, courtesy, responsibility and flexibility by ensuring the satisfaction of an entrepreneur.
Furthermore, the agency will develop proposals on measures related to increasing participation of SMEs in public procurement, protection of the rights of small and medium-sized businesses, attraction of foreign and local organizations in supporting of SMEs and improving regulatory legal acts in this area.
What small, medium entrepreneurs gain from the agency's activity?
The experience of leading countries shows that the arrangement of the services provided to small and medium entrepreneurs in a single space on the principle of "single window" plays an important role in ensuring the quality and availability of these services along with giving positive results.
In addition to the services provided by the Agency on the directions that we have mentioned, it will be beneficial for entrepreneurs that all the essential services required for SMEs, particularly, the study of domestic markets, establishment of contacts with scientific and educational institutions, introduction of advanced scientific and technological innovations, support to the sale of products produced by entrepreneurs, organization of activity of business incubators, consideration of entrepreneurs' applications and other services are implemented through "SME Houses", and will play an important role in the organization of their efficient activities.
Furthermore, it is planned to create a unified information portal for broadening SMEs' access to the legislative and business knowledge, specialist bank and various sources of information, creation of opportunities for using public services in one place and strengthening of business and partnership relations.
What work has been done to organize the activity of the agency?
Presently, the work is underway to ensure the activity of the Small and Medium Entrepreneurship Development Agency, and to formulate a regulatory legal framework. Thus, a draft of relevant normative-legal documents has been developed and is in a stage of coordination with relevant state agencies.
Orkhan Mammadov, who worked at the Economy Ministry for a long time and has experience in this field , was appointed the executive director of the Agency.
I would like to reiterate that the launch of the Agency and "SME houses" as the implementation of the tasks set by the president of Azerbaijan within the relevant decree, will allow to bring the management system in this area in line with the modern requirements, further improve institutional support mechanisms and provide a convenient access to all services necessary for SMEs in a single space.