The reforms that have been implemented in Azerbaijan over the past few years in the field of registration of assets now give concrete results.

Thus, in Azerbaijan real estate registration system is considered the most advanced among the ten indicators according to which the authors of the report Doing Business - 2013 estimated the business climate in the world. According to this index, our country has retained its place in the top ten, becoming the ninth among 185 countries.

Facilitating of the procedures in the area played the main role in it. This in turn contributed to the change in the Azerbaijani legislation - the introduction of new tariffs for expedited review and issuance of documents confirming the right to own property. The fixed amount of state duty for registration of property rights established in 2009 amounts to an average of 0.5 percent of the property value, whereas in other countries this figure is 3 - 5 percent of the property value.

Structural reforms in the public authorities responsible for the sector were carried out for effective approach to the activity and to avoid duplication of work. As a result, the State Property Committee was established in 2009 on the basis of the Azerbaijani State Committee on State Property Management. In addition the State Real Estate Register Service of Azerbaijan was abolished and Estate Register Service of the State Committee for Property Affairs was created on its basis.

Creation of a single registry of real estate transactions has reduced the number of procedures to register property from seven to four. Two out of these four procedures are transferred to an accelerated mode, which allows to make the registration of the property within 11 days. For comparison the procedure is twice as long in the countries of Central Asia and Europe.

The effectiveness of these reforms was immediately reflected in the statistics of property registration. Thus, according to Azerbaijani State Committee on Property Issues, more than 147,000 properties were registered in 2011,which is 56 per cent than in 2010.

Work on electronic registration of real estate in Azerbaijan is currently carried out to improve registration system of property rights. Work is underway on creation of a digital map of a unified real estate cadastre across the country, the database is transferred to electronic form. This allows citizens to receive comprehensive services in on-line mode, without having to visit the relevant authorities, which will further reduce the time and number of procedures in this area.

In the future, following the creation of ASAN centers, registration on real estate transactions in Azerbaijan will be available through a system of 'single window', which will significantly increase the level of provided services.

The recognition of Azerbaijan's leadership in this sector by international institutions is essential. This report is an important document for many of the major investors in the world in identification of new areas for their investments. In many ways, it is used while making decisions on investment in a country, in particular in non oil sector, which is very important for Azerbaijan.