Azerbaijan
RECENT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
GDP grew by 2.4 percent in the first eight months of 2019, supported by the sectors other than hydrocarbons and export capacity.
Transport, manufacturing, agriculture and retail trade were the main contributors to growth.
Credit activity started recovering but weaknesses in the financial sector remain. The loan portfolio stopped contracting in 2018 and started to gradually increase in nominal terms at the end of the year amid overall macroeconomic stabilization and resumption of economic growth.
A modest economic recovery is expected to continue.
AZERBAIJAN AND THE EaP
The six Eastern Partner countries have been making steady progress in improving the business climate for SMEs. This overview of the Doing Business indicator of the World Bank shows how Azerbaijan has improved over the years, gradually closing the gap with the best performing countries of the world (‘distance to frontier’). Azerbaijan has been a steady performer through the years, starting off at more than 60% with a more recent spike that brought it to the current almost 80%.
Doing Business – Distance to frontier, EaP
Source: Doing Business, World Bank, www.doingbusiness.org
NATIONAL SME PERFORMANCE
The six Eastern Partner countries have been making steady progress in improving the business climate for SMEs. This overview of the Doing Business indicator of the World Bank shows how Azerbaijan has improved over the years, gradually closing the gap with the best performing countries of the world (‘distance to frontier’). Azerbaijan has been a steady performer through the years, starting off at more than 60% with a more recent spike that brought it to the current almost 80%.
Doing Business – Distance to frontier, EaP
Source: Armstat, (2019), Azerbaijan, 2019.
IMPLEMENTATION PROGRESS
The funds invested by the European Union have triggered additional loans and financial assistance in the country, effectively increasing the assistance a
staggering 13-fold. This benefitted 13,008 SMEs and created an estimated 3,348 jobs, beyond the jobs that were sustained. The number of projects in the country,
and with it the EU’s assistance, has been on the steady rise over the 10 years of EU4Business’s operation.