Finance

Finance

IFC to hold presentation of Small and Medium Enterprises Report in Shamakhi

19 November 2009 15:39 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Nijat Mustafayev â€“ APA-Economics. On November 20, IFC will hold the presentation of the IFCâ€™s Small and Medium Enterprises Report in Shamakhi prepared by the Business Enabling Environment Project.

The event for the publication will also try to initiate a debate as to what are the key challenges, as identified by the study, said the IFC Office in Baku.

International Finance Corporation (IFC) has partnered with Swiss Secretariat of Economic Affairs (SECO) and BP on behalf of its co-venturers to launch Azerbaijan Business Enabling Environment Project. This five-year program is designed to support the Governmentâ€™s efforts in improving the business environment in Azerbaijan by streamlining a select number of administrative procedures, thereby removing key regulatory barriers to business entry and operations.

The report is based on the results of a survey of managers of approximately 1,800 small and medium enterprises (SMEs), conducted by early 2008, representing all regions and key sectors of the economy, supplemented by an extensive legal and institutional analysis. This was then compared against the good international practices and recommendations were being made jointly with the Azerbaijani authorities focused on improvements in most areas of the business life cycle.

The study aims at reducing the regulatory burden on business; monitoring the business environment of the SME sector; and by its dissemination increase public awareness of the key development issues.