BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 11. The Innovation and Digital Development Agency under the Ministry of Transport and Digital Development of Azerbaijan is negotiating with funds to create a second venture fund in the country, the chairperson of the agency, Inara Valiyeva, said at a panel discussion on "Innovation as a Culture" at the Chain Reaction 2024 forum, Trend reports.
“An important element of our strategy is the formation of investment culture. We are the first LP (limited partners) in the venture capital fund of Azerbaijan. Now we are negotiating with several funds that are interested in creating similar structures in the country and actively supporting them on this path,” she emphasized.
Valiyeva noted that the agency focuses on five key areas: access to talent, market, infrastructure, financing, and building culture.
“Culture permeates all these aspects. When we develop talent, we strive to ensure that professionals are ready to continuously learn. Our scholarship programs help create a talent pool that, while working in large companies, will eventually be able to launch their startups,” she said.
According to her, over the past two and a half years we have reached more than 10,000 people in Azerbaijan, training them to the level of junior specialists.
“We invite IT sector companies to consider setting up branches in Azerbaijan. We are ready to support them with talent and subsidize part of the cost of training employees to grow and develop them to the level of mid-level specialists. In addition, we are actively cooperating with international players in the education sector,” Valiyeva added.