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Baku hosts a round table on â€œDevelopment of Leasing in Azerbaijan: Current Situation and Prospects

21 April 2009 13:14 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Nijat Mustafayev - APA-Economics. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Azerbaijan Leasing Companies Association organized a round table in Baku, exploring â€œthe Development of Leasing in Azerbaijan: Current Situation and Prospectsâ€.

The objective of the meeting was to discuss ways of spurring the development of leasing in the country, setting forth proposals on the development of the leasing sector and promoting domestic and foreign investment.

Aliya Azimova, IFC representative in Azerbaijan, said that IFC has implemented 2 projects in Azerbaijanâ€™s leasing sector, namely Leasing Market Development Project (2003-2007) and Azerbaijan-Central Asia Leasing Facility Advisory Services Project (2005-2009).

In a major effort to strengthen the leasing industry in Azerbaijan, IFC extended $6 million in loan and Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) delivered $3 million technical assistance to Azerbaijan, she added.

Anastasia Marina, Project Manager at IFC, noted that leasing portfolio grew by $67 million to $200 million over the past three years.

â€œOur projects are on track of completion and we hope that the Government of Azerbaijan will continue the development of leasing in the country,â€ she said.

Naila Safarova, SECO Representative in Azerbaijan, stated that SECO has to date allocated $8 million to the financial sector.