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IFC to engage in formulating new WB Partnership Framework for Azerbaijan - Director

Business Materials 7 May 2021 09:27 (UTC +04:00)
IFC to engage in formulating new WB Partnership Framework for Azerbaijan - Director

BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 7

By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) will engage jointly with the World Bank in formulating the new the World Bank Group’s Country Partnership Framework for Azerbaijan, Wiebke Schloemer, IFC Director for Europe and Central Asia, told Trend.

“One of IFC’s strategic priorities in Azerbaijan is to support the country’s shift to a new growth model led by the private sector. This would support the country’s efforts to diversify away from oil and gas, while creating jobs and stimulating economic growth. As part of the efforts, IFC will engage jointly with the World Bank in formulating the new the World Bank Group’s Country Partnership Framework,” she said.

Schloemer pointed out that to support Azerbaijan’s non-oil economy, IFC continues to help create a conducive business environment to make it easier for companies to do business and make investments in the country.

“This includes a long-standing cooperation for the past decade, which over the past several years focused on the development of a new legislative framework on investments and strategy for investment promotion, as well as several legislative and regulatory initiatives focusing on agriculture, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), tourism, food safety, inspection, licensing and other areas of business activity, including reforms related to Doing Business indicators.

These initiatives are being implemented within several cooperation agreements and memorandums signed between IFC and relevant government agencies, including the Ministry of Economy, Agriculture, Labor and Social Protection, Food Safety Agency, State Commission on Improvement of Business Environment and International Rankings and Center for Economic Reforms Analysis and Communication. The work is part of IFC’s Azerbaijan Investment Climate and Agribusiness Competitiveness project implemented in partnership with the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance,” noted the IFC director.

Schloemer went on to add that in addition, with advice from IFC, the government of Azerbaijan has implemented a series of regulatory reforms to improve the country’s financial infrastructure and enable more small businesses to access credit.

“As part of these efforts, the government adopted a modern law on credit bureaus, enabling the creation of the country’s first private credit bureau in 2018. That has helped improve the quality and range of credit information, reducing financial institutions’ risks and facilitating more lending.

IFC has also helped develop a secured transactions law that allows small businesses, which often lack assets like real estate, to use their movable assets, including inventory, accounts receivable, and equipment, as collateral. As a result of the reform, a movable collateral registry was created.

That work was driven by the Azerbaijan Financial Infrastructure Advisory Services project, a 10-year effort implemented in partnership with SECO.

Increasing the reach and breadth of financial services to people who currently have limited or no access to these services on a massive scale is one of IFC’s objectives. While digitalization presents tremendous opportunities and challenges, IFC actively champions and supports responsible, innovative solutions to reach unserved and underserved populations at scale. We help financial institutions leverage technology to serve market segments that are too costly to reach with traditional banking,” she said.

The IFC director noted that in sync with the times, IFC’s Electronic and Digital Financial Services project — in partnership with SECO — works to promote financial inclusion by improving access to digital financial services for individuals and smaller businesses, helping them grow and create jobs.

“As part of the efforts, IFC works on an agent banking initiative with Azerpost, which along with postal services, offers financial services under a limited banking license. The cooperation helps Azerpost provide selected financial services as an agent of other financial institutions and educate its customers on how to use digital financial services. The initiative will make it easier for individuals and small businesses, especially those in rural areas with no access to bank branches, to make payments and get access to basic banking services electronically, without having to visit banks.

IFC continues to explore opportunities for direct investments in private sector companies in the country as well as in financial institutions for on-lending to SMEs.

Going forward, we are keen and well positioned to support the government in structuring pilot public-private partnership projects,” she said.

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