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Azerbaijan and World Bank sign a loan agreement

28 November 2008 12:22 (UTC +04:00)

The loan is offered on standard IDA terms with 35 years to maturity, including a ten year grace period.
The agreement was signed by Fuzuli Alekberov, Azerbaijanâ€™s Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Azerbaijan (MLSP), and Gregory Jedrzejczak, World Bank Country Manager for Azerbaijan.
After the signing ceremony, Fuzuli Alekberov said unemployment rate declined by three times since 1995, minimum salary rose by 68 times and average salary increased by more than 20 tims.
According to him, 740 000 jobs, including 530 000 permanent jobs were created over the past five years.
Elnur Sultanov, international relations officer of the ministry, added that the World Bank approved a $26.7 million credit on May 27 for the Social Protection Development Project that is estimated to cost $54.6 million in total.
According to him, the government will provide $27.9 million for the project.
Gregory Jedrzejczak said that this is not the first joint project with the Government of Azerbaijan.
â€œI am quite optimistic that this project will be implemented successfully,â€ he added.
The primary target group for the project includes job seekers, young labor market participants, and youths choosing a career path, as well as very poor households, current and future pensioners, and people with disability in need of disability certification. The project will also provide assistance to the reform of the pension system in Azerbaijan.
The Project aims to make improvements in four key areas:
Labor Market Reform. The project will help to significantly improve labor market institutions, policies and programs and strengthen capacity for labor market and employment policy formulation and implementation. It will also finance the strengthening of job search and matching services, career counseling, and training programs.
CapacityBuildingand Social Safety Net Development. The project aims to assist in the modernization of the administration in the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population (MLSPP), and will support the introduction of monitoring and evaluation systems. It will also assist in the restructuring of the Disability Certification Service and the piloting of integrated provision of the social protection programs.
Pension System Development. The project will assist the Government in assessing the fiscal sustainability of the current pension system and assist in developing a strategy to ensure it is sustainable in the future.
Project Management. This component will strengthen MLSPâ€™s and State Social Protection Fundâ€™s capacities to efficiently and effectively implement the Social Protection Development Project.