The conference on “Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Business Environment” was held.

The Azerbaijan Entrepreneurs Confederation held a conference on the theme “Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and Business Environment” within the framework of the Global Entrepreneurship Week on November 21.

At the conference, the President of the ASK Mammad Musayev said that as a result of successful socio-economic policies and economic reforms implemented by President Ilham Aliyev, important steps were taken to develop entrepreneurship in Azerbaijan, especially the establishment of a sustainable economy. He mentioned that the growth dynamics of the non-oil sector and regional development in the country is an example of the formation of more sustainable, inclusive and diversified national entrepreneurship in Azerbaijan.

The UN General Assembly resolution of September 25, 2015, called the “Agenda 2030”, which has 17 goals and 169 targets, will help to create the most important human development opportunities for the next 15 years approved. The global goals and objectives set out include collective actions that are required by the international community to achieve balanced economic, social and environmental management that is coherent with sustainable development.

Prime Minister Ali Ahmadov, who takes into account that implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals requires a comprehensive institutional and political approach. The goals and objectives of the Council include several important activities covering economic, social and environmental aspects of sustainable development. The development of entrepreneurship in every country directly depends on the business environment created there.

He said that the results of reforms in the country are reflected in international reports, and in the Doing Business 2020 report Azerbaijan ranked 34th out of 190 countries. For example, Azerbaijan is ranked 1st in terms of credit availability, 9th in business startup, 28th in contract enforcement, 40th in tax payments, 44th in property registration, 47th in bankruptcy settlement and 47th in construction permits. 59th purchase. The area where Azerbaijan has the highest score in this report is access to loans. As part of complex business reforms on this indicator, the amendments were made to the Law “On the Loading of movable property” and the Civil Code.

M. Musayev mentioned: “At the same time, I would like to bring to your attention the two most popular and accepted indexes of the business environment in Azerbaijan. One of them is the “Economic Freedom Index”, which is the country that has improved the index of economic freedom in the history of independence and is currently ranked 61st. The second indicator is the Doing Business rating, which is one of the top 20 countries with the most reforms among 190 countries. One of the facts confirming this is that 63% or 7.2 billion manats of the 11.4 billion manats invested in fixed assets in Azerbaijan in the first 10 months of this year were directed to the non-oil sector, an increase of 7% compared to the same period in last year.

Deputy Minister of Economy Niyazi Safarov said that the sustainable development goals set by the world leaders at the UN’s historic summit in September 2015, formally reflected in the agenda for sustainable development until 2030, formally as of January 1, 2016. came into force.

Sustainable development goals are based on the Millennium Development Goals and are aimed at eradicating all forms of poverty.

The National Coordination Council for Sustainable Development was established on October 6, 2016. A secretariat was established at the Ministry of Economy to organize the activities of the National Coordination Council to implement the decree. A joint working group of authorized representatives of the government has prepared a final draft of the goals, targets and related indicators for Azerbaijan, which was approved by the Council on February 7 this year. According to the final project, 17 goals, 88 targets, and 119 indicators have been approved for Azerbaijan and several activities are being carried out in this area.

According to the Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Protection Anar Aliyev, since 2013 the minimum wage has increased 20 times in the country, the average monthly wage increased by 7.5 times, the minimum pension by 10 times, and the average monthly pension by 9.7 times. More than 2.2 million new jobs have been created in the country.

Starting in 2018, the President has undergone reforms in the social sphere. When analyzing these cases over the past two years, we see that the decisions have been made in all areas of the social sphere to provide services to citizens, to ensure the adequacy of social payments, to ensure transparency and to reduce the number of civil servants.

Also, discussions were moderated by ASK Vice President Jale Hajiyeva and Deputy Secretary-General of the Confederation Fuad Humbatov. The conference presented the results of the survey on various parameters of entrepreneurship and economic development.

It was noted that the survey involved 500 companies operating in Baku and regions. Participants supporting the reforms in the country said they needed additional information on the use of legislative frameworks and support mechanisms. In general, entrepreneurs noted that they look to the future with great hope and grow their business.