Turkish business complain about obstacles in Azerbaijan

At a meeting with visiting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at Baku’s Hyatt Regency Hotel on June, TUSIAB members expressed a particular concern over tax and customs obstacles.

According to Yusif Sina, the head of TUSIAB’s construction department, the Turkish business have invested some 360 million U.S. dollars in Azerbaijan’s booming construction sector. “The Turkish construction companies employ the staff of 6,000,” he said, adding that construction business is one of the most capital-intensive fields of activity in the country. “This causes a serious concern among construction executives,” Sina stressed.

He also expressed dissatisfaction with the condition requiring that 10 per cent of the commissioned apartments be placed at the disposal of municipalities.

In respect of prospects for doing business in Azerbaijan, TUSIAB members agreed at length on the necessity to reduce tax and customs burden and end the red-tape, including unjustified obstacles.

Meanwhile, the Turkish business hailed a project dealing with the construction of the Kars-Akhalakalaki-Baku railway. The project, overwhelmingly supported by the Azerbaijani and Turkish government, is believed to settle some of the above-mentioned problems.

TUSIAB is active in Azerbaijan since 1994. Its members have invested about 2 billion U.S. dollars in the country’s economy so far, and employ the overall staff of 50,000.