The EU Business Climate Report Azerbaijan 2021
The EU Business Climate Report Azerbaijan 2021 is funded the European Union (EU) and implemented by COWI Belgium in partnership with Italy-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce, Azerbaijan-France Chamber of Commerce, and Industry, InvestBaku and in coordination with Export and Investment Promotion Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan (AZPROMO) as part of the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan. Since 2015, this regular study reflects the main challenges of EU businesses in the country, tracks the progress of economic reforms and determines priorities for further improvement of the local business environment.
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The 6th annual edition of report emphasizes the highlights on recovery of economic and business environment as a more stable and predictable in 2021, which is allowing companies to look to the future with more certainty and optimism. The numbers show that 80% of European companies are ready to choose Azerbaijan again for their business operations, 53% of respondents have plans for future expansion.
The “EU Business Climate Report Azerbaijan 2021” represents the views of representatives from 24 countries in total, including 20 EU member states, 2 EFTA countries, the UK, and Azerbaijan. Over 90% of the companies that participated in the survey are SMEs. The majority of entities are operating in Azerbaijan as limited liability companies (LLC) (58%) or representative offices (31%) and are being present in the country for over 5 years (77%).
The study underlines that ICT and transportation, construction and engineering businesses grew and continued to show a positive trend for further expansion of their capacities. The state projects and investments with a substantial budget of USD 1.3 bn. in the Karabakh and East Zangezur economic regions brought optimism to construction and engineering companies. Over half (54%) of respondents reported interest in upcoming projects in these regions, and 14% have already started active work in these economic regions. The main sectors of interest among respondents were in civil construction, alternative energy, and transport infrastructure.
European companies considered the work of ASAN, E-Taxation platform, E-customs services, DOST centers and SMBDA as the top-5 most effective ongoing reforms. Azerbaijan continues its movement towards global strategic priorities, including the development of a sustainable and green economy. With the support of EU initiatives, the country keeps strengthening its policy and legislative framework in this area. This is the first year the EU Business Climate Survey included questions devoted to gender segregation and women`s roles in their entities.