TODAY.AZ / Business

WB reveals three main principles of co-op with Azerbaijan

06 March 2019 [10:00] - TODAY.AZ

By Azernews


By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade

The World Bank’s (WB) cooperation with Azerbaijan is based on partnership, Mercy Tembon, WB Regional Director for the South Caucasus, said in an interview with Trend.

WB’s cooperation with Azerbaijan is based on partnership, which, in turn, is based on three principles - knowledge sharing, technical support and financing, Tembon said.

She stressed that WB supported Azerbaijan in knowledge sharing, technical support and financing in almost all spheres.

Tembon underlined that WB cooperates with Azerbaijan within the “Country Partnership Strategy.”

Within this document, WB, together with the Azerbaijani government, considers the spheres which need support, she added.

Today WB supports such areas as agriculture, health care, support for the development of rural areas, projects for the reconstruction of main roads, as well as the implementation of the e-court system, she said.

Tembon stressed that during a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in February 2019, the issue of using the "e-court" system in all Azerbaijani courts was discussed in Baku.

Presently, this system is used in about 10 courts, but in the future it is planned to be implemented throughout the country, she added.

She also underlined that Azerbaijan is implementing a self-employment program and the WB has been offered to participate in this program.

This program today covers 6,000 Azerbaijani families, but the coverage of the program is planned to be increased up to 20,000 families, Tembon said.

Further, she stressed that the WB also plans to take part in the program on the implementation of mandatory medical insurance system in Azerbaijan, as well as in the reconstruction of the Baku-Astara railway.

Tembon went on to say that the WB will continue to cooperate with Azerbaijan in support for the private sector.

The private sector is the source of the creation of new jobs, she added.

The public sector does not create as many jobs as the private sector does, so the support for the private sector is very important, Tembon said.

She went on to say that Azerbaijan already can get into the top ten ease of doing business rankings in the next Doing Business report of the World Bank (WB) and the International Finance Corporation.

Azerbaijan ranked 25th among 190 countries in the Doing Business 2019: Training and Reforms and 57th in the Doing Business 2018.

Tembon expressed satisfaction with the fact that Azerbaijan's position in the ranking is improving every year and hope that this trend will continue.

The regional director noted, in the latest Doing Business 2019: Training and Reforms report Azerbaijan on the category of "Start of Business" entered the list of top ten reformers.

Also, according to Tembon, important aspects are the simplification of connecting enterprises to the power supply system and obtaining a permit for the construction and operation of real estate. She added that Azerbaijan is implementing important reforms in this direction.

Further, Tembon noted that the World Bank is proud of Azerbaijan's success.

"We support the economic and social reforms undertaken by President Ilham Aliyev. We support these reforms because they are aimed at improving people's quality of life and reducing poverty," she said.

These reforms are aimed at the development of economy and the more the economy develops, the more the quality of life improves, Tembon said.

Commenting on the changes made to the Tax Code of Azerbaijan, the regional director noted that these changes are very important.

"The tax system is a system that prevents the attraction of investments and I hope that these changes will positively affect the country's economy," she said.

She added that the WB is working with Azerbaijan in different directions.

"As the World Bank, we operate in all corners of the world, therefore we offer countries, including Azerbaijan, the best practice. I am very glad that the countries of the Caucasus region are rapidly developing in all directions," Tembon said.

The use of information technologies is also very important, the WB regional director noted.

It is necessary to expand the single window system and reduce the number of days required for registration and obtaining licenses, she said adding that it all helps to ensure transparency and efficiency, as well as increase trust in the management system.

Azerbaijan has significantly improved its position in the World Bank Group's Doing Business ranking by 32 notches and took the 25th place, and also entered the list of 10 reformer countries.

Thus, Azerbaijan ranks 25th among 190 countries in Doing Business 2019, while it was 57th in Doing Business 2018.

According to Doing Business 2019, Azerbaijan has entered the list of countries with the most noticeable improvement in the economy.

Azerbaijan has been consistently carrying out reforms to improve the business climate since 2006. Doing Business authors said that Azerbaijan has carried out a record number of reforms (eight) aimed at simplifying doing business in 2017-2018 among 10 economies that have shown significant improvement. Azerbaijan has simplified the process of obtaining building permits, connecting to power grids, registering property, obtaining loans, taxation, international trade and also carried out reforms in the labor market and reforms aimed at protecting minority investors.

Doing Business is annually published by the World Bank Group, which assesses regulatory standards in entrepreneurial activity.

Azerbaijan joined the World Bank Group in 1992. During this period, the bank allocated loans for the implementation of over 50 projects in the country worth over $3 billion. Seven more projects worth about $1.5 billion are being implemented.

Besides the loans, WB allocated 45 grants to Azerbaijan totalling $41.586 million in 1995-2014.

Founded in 1944, the WB has 189 member countries, staff from more 170 countries, and offices in over 130 locations.

Today the Bank Group’s work touches nearly every sector that is important to fighting poverty, supporting economic growth, and ensuring sustainable gains in the quality of people’s lives in developing countries.

URL: http://www.today.az/news/business/179944.html

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