Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr. I. Khalilova/ The Board of SECO ( Switzerland's State Secretary for Economic Issues) has approved its participation (SECO) in the project - "On Technical Aid in Developing Payment Systems in "Azerpocht", Trend reports quoting a message spread by SECO.
The project is to be implemented with the World Bank (WB). The ultimate goal of the project lies in setting up the system of rendering financial services in remote rural regions, which are behind the servicing of Azerbaijan's banking sector.
The project is of a high priority to the Azerbaijani Government, and a main part of the State Programme for Development of the National Payment System. SECO's share in the project is $500 000. These funds will be presented to the project as a grant.
Within the existing project, the key financial infrastructure is expected to be purchased for the rural regions. In addition, they are expected to present a technical aid to "AzerPocht" to reinforcing the institutional potential of the Company and introducing necessary know-how elements. The project will further the development of the rural regions and the whole financial sector of the country. It is the result of the major recommendation of the programme on appraisal of the financial sector of th country, which was conducted by WB in February, 2004.
The technical aid will be intended for the introduction a reliable and transparent system of accounting to meet with the international accounting standards (IAS), development of the budget system and system of appraisal of execution, introduction of the system of control and domestic (internal) audit to minimize operational risks, development of a business-plan for the Company, introduction of the function of managing with risks and liquidity, improvement of the marketing service, and development of the financial product focused on poorest strata of the society of the country, as well as improvement the staff potential of the Company. "Financial Services and Capital Partners" of the Netherlands has been chosen the major consulting company on the mentioned project.
The direct beneficiaries on the project are the clients of "AzerPocht", dwellers and members of their families of the remote rural regions. The population will get an access to financial services and save on expenses (costs), since they could perform some different operations in post offices simultaneously. The possibility to perform a payment in the remote rural regions will lead to the creation of new markets. "AzerPocht" and its stuff are also the beneficiaries of the existing project taking into consideration the fact that the Company will be modernized, and its capacity and productivity will be improved.