Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct.9
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
The European Union (EU) will provide technical assistance for the Agency for Development of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Azerbaijan, European Commission sources told Trend.
As the sources said, the EU has currently many ongoing trade related programs and projects in Azerbaijan.
“Some examples of such projects include technical assistance to support Azerbaijan’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), as well as support to the non-oil sector development. Also, an ongoing Twinning project is providing support to Azerbaijan’s Accreditation Agency, aiming to promote Azerbaijani products in the global market,” noted the sources.
Another Twinning project is under preparation to support the Intellectual Property Agency on copyright issues, according to the European Commission sources.
“Further planned support includes technical assistance for the newly established SME Agency and to the Standardization Institute – this support is expected to help Azerbaijan to align its technical regulations and standards with those in the EU,” said the sources.
Furthermore, specific EU support will be provided in Azerbaijan’s Lankaran region, helping the competitiveness of its fruit and agriculture producers, said the sources, adding that finally, through the EU4Business initiative, the European Union is providing complementary support to help to increase trade between the EU and Azerbaijan.
The EU accounts already for around 50 percent of Azerbaijan's total foreign trade, with bilateral trade flows amounting to over 11 billion euros in 2017 (1.7 billion euros in EU exports to Azerbaijan; 9.4 billion euros in imports from Azerbaijan into the EU.
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