Agency head proposes establishment of Fintech regional centres for development

This year, it is planned to create regional centres for fintechs in Baku, Sumgayit, and Ganja, Inara Valiyeva, the head of the Innovation and Digital Development Agency under the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport, said at the Fintech Summit, Azernews reports.

According to her, this process will be further expanded in the coming years.

"In addition, together with the Central Bank, we are also working in the field of legislation to facilitate access to finance. You know that a fund has been established in this regard. But sometimes problems arise with payments related to this fund. In order to overcome these difficulties, it is imperative that a legislative basis for venture investments be created. In parallel with this, there is active work on the creation of the second venture fund in Azerbaijan."

Valiyeva noted that there are also angel investment funds for making investments in this sector.

"There are already 3 such funds operating in our country. Although the activity of angel investor funds is not to our liking, we expect them to be more active. Currently, 30-35% of the startups we cover are in fintech. This is not surprising. Because now the most active area is the financial sector."