Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend / In 2007 the fundament of the first industrial town will be made in Azerbaijan. For its activity, there are all components, as well as legislative base in the Country, including Presidential orders and decree of the Cabinet of Ministers. The project has been approved by the Government of Azerbaijan.
Despite the fact that the construction of the industrial city has not commenced in Yeni Yashma, the Azerbaijani companies already need to hold talks regarding the leasing of production areas and offices in the new town. The project to establish a business town will soon be realized and therefore firms wishing to participate may select available areas and create a territory in which to establish production. Possibly in the initial stage, the office and production areas will be provided to business people on preferential terms.
The industrial town will present a small complex of buildings and area with a communication system, a management system and social infrastructure which will provide all the conditions to business people to carry out entrepreneurship activity. Thus, the companies working here will be able to use sub-stations, loading and unloading mechanisms, telecommunication, railway, fire, medical and hotel services.
No special benefits and tax privileges will be created for the companies working in the industrial town, but they will have broad opportunities to obtain privileged credits. Together with the local companies, the foreign companies will also be able to be active in the industrial town. Preference will be given to the production of export products.
The new industrial town Yeni Yashma in Azerbaijan will create new workplaces. According to various assessments, more than 2,000 people will be provided with jobs. In addition to improvement of the social situation of the town, it will significantly decrease the transportation load on the road to the Capital. If the establishment of the first industrial town in Azerbaijan proves to be successful, it will be possible for business towns to be established in the country's regions as well. Establishing separate industrial towns in Azerbaijan are in need due to the issue that the tourism is actively developing in the Country and therefore, development of the industry should not adversely affect the inhabitants and nature. The best example is Turkey where the establishment of the industrial towns transformed the Country to be, together with tourism, one of the largest exporters.
This project, developed for over 2 years, is carried out by the Agency for Cooperation and Development of Turkey (TIKA). In accordance with the initial variant of a feasibility study, developed by UNIDO in 2004, some $28mln is required for the construction of the town. The major part of the construction work will be financed by the Azerbaijani Government. To commence the work, some AZN 8mln has been allocated out of the public budget, which will cover the expenses over the first 6 months. The construction work will take nearly one and a half years.
(Ellada Khankishyeva - expert of Trend Analytical Center)
