BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 21
By Fidan Babayeva - Trend:
The process of restoring the Azerbaijani liberated lands is one of the main spheres of activity for the coming years for the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Azerbaijan, Member of the Board of Directors, Vice President of AmCham Azerbaijan Nargiz Nasrullayeva-Muduroglu told Trend.
"AmCham is one of the biggest business associations that is directly involved in the development of Azerbaijan," Nasrullayeva-Muduroglu added.
"Taking into account that the process of restoration of the liberated area is a part of sustainable economic development of the whole country, it is also one of the main spheres of activity for AmCham," Nasrullayeva-Muduroglu stressed.
Vice-President of AmCham stressed that a general plan for reconstruction and economic development of the area is under development.
"AmCham is ready to consider the proposals of state organizations and structures on its possible involvement in the process of implementation of this plan," Nasrullayeva-Muduroglu said.
"We also believe that attracting foreign investments to Azerbaijan will become a stimulating factor for the reconstruction and restoration of the Azerbaijani territories liberated from the Armenian occupation, economic stability in the region and improvement of business climate," vice-president of AmCham said.
"The American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Azerbaijan has over 80 percent of all foreign investments and a big part of local investments in the country," Nasrullayeva-Muduroglu added.
"Over the past two decades, AmCham has been working very closely with the Azerbaijani government to develop and improve various sectors of the economy," Nasrullayeva-Muduroglu said.
"During this period, we have offered over 300 recommendations through such projects as White paper and Position paper," vice president of AmCham said.
"Being an active member of working groups under various state structures, AmCham was directly involved in the development and implementation of many bills," Nasrullayeva-Muduroglu said.
Referring to the White Paper, the vice president stressed that the document has been issued by the American Chamber of Commerce every two years over the past decade.
"After the issuance of the White Document, a process that affects absolutely all levels of the Chamber begins," Nasrullayeva-Muduroglu said. "Each member of the Chamber can participate in the process of preparing this document through the sectoral committees. We evaluate and analyze the results and changes that the previous issuance of the White Document made in Azerbaijan."
"All members of the Chamber have the opportunity, through the committees in which they are members, to make recommendations," the vice president added. "The specific chapters are prepared by sectors within the committee."
"Then this process is transferred to the board of directors of the Chamber, and we, as members of the board of directors, have been working very actively for several months to completely improve and put all the necessary accents," Nasrullayeva-Muduroglu said.
The vice president stressed that after the issuance of one White Document, the work on the next issue begins as it is very important for the recommendations of the Chamber to be relevant, timely and modern.
"The proposals on changes in the business environment and in other spheres in Azerbaijan within the White Paper project, prepared by AmCham, were outlined in several state programs," Nasrullayeva-Muduroglu added.
"The work with various ministries, departments, representatives of both the executive and legislative power, various committees of the Azerbaijani parliament has been very close and fruitful over the past several years," Nasrullayeva-Muduroglu added.
"The creation of a register of movable property, private credit bureaus, the adoption of a tourism strategy, obtaining a tourist visa, online registration of employment contracts, certain tax incentives for the non-oil sector of the economy, the creation of an e-court, specialized courts, the adoption of a new Customs Code were outlined in a number of state programs," Nasrullayeva-Muduroglu said.
AmCham, founded in 1996, consists of more than 260 partners and members operating in every sector of the Azerbaijani economy. It is a leading private non-profit business association that supports and promotes the interests of foreign and local businesses in Azerbaijan.
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