Azerbaijan, Germany to implement joint programs for entrepreneurs

By Azernews

Qabil Ashirov

Azerbaijan and Germany will hold a joint program on increasing the knowledge and skills of business managers, Azernews reports, citing Azerbaijan’s Small and Medium Business Development Agency (SMBDA).

“A number of innovations are envisaged in the Joint German-Azerbaijani Program for improving the qualifications of managers in the business community of Azerbaijan,” SMBDA says.

According to SMBDA, in the coming months, Germany will create conditions for the participation of more Azerbaijani entrepreneurs and managers in the program.

“Another innovation is the addition of new areas such as "smart agriculture", "green economy" and "Industry 4.0" to the program, in which training and experience will be held for our managers,” SMBDA added.

SMBDA noted that this had been agreed at the 3rd meeting of the Supervisory Board of the "Joint German-Azerbaijani Program on Improving the Qualifications of Managers in the Business Community of Azerbaijan" held in Berlin.

Deputy Minister of Economy of Azerbaijan Sahib Mammadov and employees of the ministry, representatives of the Federal Ministry of Economy and Climate Protection of Germany, SMBDA, which is the coordinator of the program from Azerbaijan, and representatives of GIZ participated in the meeting.

The event pointed out that the German-Azerbaijani Joint Program, which has been successfully implemented since 2009, has created additional opportunities for the development of Azerbaijani entrepreneurs, and more than 500 entrepreneurs and managers have benefited from the program so far. At the meeting, SMBDA presented a report on the work done within the framework of the program in the last 3 years, and the results of the survey conducted by the Agency among the program participants were announced.

It should be noted that the applications of Azerbaijani entrepreneurs and managers, who want to participate in the German-Azerbaijani Joint Program, are accepted electronically by SMBDA throughout the year (https://smb.gov.az/az/nav/beynelxalq-ixtisasartirma-kursu).

Notably, SMBDA as a legal entity under the Ministry of Economy is authorized to support the development of small and medium businesses (SMBs) in the country by providing SMBs with a number of services as well as ensuring coordination and regulation of services rendered by government entities to SMBs.