BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 27
By Eldar Janashvili - Trend:
Azerbaijan is one of the two countries in the world providing a mobile residence (m-residency), said Nijat Asadli, Manager at the Digital Trade Hub of the Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communications of Azerbaijan (CAERC), Trend reports referring to the CAERC.
M-residency provided through the Digital Trade Hub is a public-private partnership project that allows anyone to use a variety of electronic services without changing their location.
“People are forced to be in quarantine and can't carry out their daily work, including business activities in the countries, which form the major part of the world's GDP. Azerbaijan, on the other hand, offers these people a real solution to this problem, giving them the opportunity to remotely monitor and manage their work,” Asadli noted.
According to the manager, the program provides an opportunity to open companies and bank accounts in Azerbaijan, assign addresses and assistants, officially attract employees to work, use tax benefits and much more from anywhere in the world.
“At present, during the period of restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, which causes great damage to business and tourism, it is necessary to note how important this service is in our country, as well as around the world. The mobile residency program is an antidote to stagnation that may arise in the flow of foreign investment into the country amid a sharp drop in oil prices,” said the manager.
Asadli noted that the Digital Trade Hub was established on the basis of the decree of the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on strengthening the position of Azerbaijan as a digital trading center and strengthening foreign trade operations.
“The hub provides various digital solutions to both residents and non-residents, using the most modern, safe and fast technologies throughout the entire period of activity. Among these services, the electronic residency service, first used in Estonia in the world, and immediately after in Azerbaijan, is of particular importance,” he added.
To date, many countries including Russia, Turkey, Georgia, the United Arab Emirates, Great Britain, Greece, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, India, Pakistan and other countries have applied for electronic and mobile residency.
“This also shows that the program really attracts interest in many parts of the world, the growth rate in the number of calls is constantly observed,” said the manager.
“In the context of today's realities, a pandemic, an economic recession in the world and a sharp decline in oil prices, a decline in demand for mobile residency services and other services of the digital trading hub is not excluded. To this end, at the initiative of the Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communications, for the more coordinated and effective implementation of the requirements of the decree, the head of state created a consortium of the Digital Trade Hub of Azerbaijan,” the expert noted.
Asadli added that this is a public-private partnership created to develop digital infrastructure and a cross-border e-commerce platform in Azerbaijan and strengthen the country's position on a regional and global scale, adding that foreigners receiving a mobile residence, as well as Azerbaijani citizens living abroad, can also, use other projects under the protectorate of CAERC without limitation.
“Thus, azexport.az portal, created by a decree of President Ilham Aliyev, is integrated with the world's most popular electronic sales networks, and foreign business partners can order Azerbaijani products online and use transport and logistics services without any restrictions,” the manager emphasized.
Enterprise Azerbaijan portal (http://enterpriseazerbaijan.com/) is also a convenient platform for placing innovative projects online, presenting them to investors and financing.
Thus, the restriction created by the coronavirus pandemic does not affect digital and remote business operations, Asadli said.