To Increase Share of Small and Medium-sized Businesses in GDP to 15% - Strategic Roadmap

In order to achieve the objectives stated in the Strategic Road Map for the production of consumer goods by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) there is a need for 700 million manat of investments.

The road map states that it will contribute to the production of value added in 2020 in the amount of AZN 1 billion 260 million and the creation of 34,240 new jobs.

The objective of the roadmap is to increase SME impact on GDP, improving the business climate and regulatory framework to ensure effective access to financial resources in order to create a sustainable network of SMEs.

In addition, there is a task of internationalization of SME activities, increase in output access to international markets in order to increase compliance of the goods produced in the country with international standards and to increase the country's foreign exchange reserves.

It is planned through the training of skilled workforce and the development of SMEs’ skills to increase proposals in the regional markets of high-quality goods and services, encouraging innovation to increase the competitiveness of small and medium-sized businesses.

The strategy plans the creation of an agency for small and medium-sized businesses.

The main objective is to achieve by 2020 a 15% share of small and medium businesses in the GDP and a 20% share in employment, bringing the share of small and medium-sized enterprises in non-oil exports up to 10%. -71D-