Baku, Azerbaijan, July 2
By Ilkin Shafiyev, Anvar Mammadov - Trend:
There are great opportunities in Azerbaijan for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Executive Director of the Agency for Small and Medium Business Development of Azerbaijan Orkhan Mammadov said in an interview with Trend.
“There is great potential for the development of this sphere in Azerbaijan,” he said. “The Strategic Roadmap for the Production of Consumer Goods at the Level of SMEs was adopted for its implementation. As a result of its implementation, there are plans to increase the share of SMEs in Azerbaijan’s GDP to 15 percent until 2020, to 20 percent in the employment sphere and to 10 percent in non-oil exports.”
As for long-term indicators, until 2025, the share of SMEs in Azerbaijan’s GDP should be brought up to 35 percent, in the employment sphere to 40 percent and in non-oil exports to 25 percent, Mammadov said.
On June 26, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree approving the charter of the Agency for Small and Medium Business Development of Azerbaijan.
In accordance with the decree, the Agency together with the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Population of Azerbaijan within two months should create a single register of business entities of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. By the end of the year, a draft “Law on the Development of SMEs” should also be prepared.
The Agency for Small and Medium Business Development of Azerbaijan was established on the basis of the decree on improvement of management in the field of small and medium-sized businesses signed by President Ilham Aliyev in December 2017.
According to the decree, small and medium-sized business houses will operate at ASAN Service centers. In those regions of the country where such centers are absent, the houses will operate under the regional divisions of the Ministry of Economy. Small and medium-sized businesses will be controlled by the Agency for Small and Medium Business Development of Azerbaijan.
Small and medium-sized business houses will provide a number of services, including training, consulting, information, financial and other services.
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