"Renaming is not a reform"

On October 11, President Ilham Aliyev signed a number of decrees. In accordance with these decrees, a Public Legal Entity (PLE) “Business Development Fund” was created under the Ministry of Economy, and the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies was renamed into the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport. Also, under this ministry, the "Azerbaijan Land Transport Agency" and the PLE "State Agency of Maritime and Port Transport" were created.

Could these new institutions or renaming bring about any changes in governance?

Economist Mammad Talibli answered ASTNA's questions on this topic.

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Questions: The president signed several decrees  on creating new state structures or renaming several state bodies. Do you think these transformations will lead to any changes in the nature of governance?

Answer: The problem is that these decisions do not stipulate management goals, do not serve to assess changes in a positive direction and improve quality. Renaming  ministries, committees and agencies is just a formal or decorative change.

Question: Through reorganization in the form of a merger, the Entrepreneurship Development Fund PLE and the Azerbaijan Investment Company OJSC was established under the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan by reorganizing the Entrepreneurship Development Fund public legal entity and the Azerbaijan Investment Company Open Joint Stock Company in the form of a merger. What is the essence of this change and will it give any positive result? Will this contribute to the development of the non-oil sector?

Answer: The main task here is to centralize powers and unite a larger number of economic entities under the cover  of the Ministry of Economy. Coordination of the activities of such a number of structures from one center, on the one hand, provides for the specification of political responsibility. On the other hand, the objectives of the activities of these institutions for a specific period of time are not indicated. For example, if the Entrepreneurship Development Fund over the past 15 years received more than 2 billion manat from the state budget, the share of small and medium-sized businesses in GDP remained at the same level. This means that measures to expand the activities of these companies have been ineffective.

Question: The Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies was renamed into the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport and some changes were made to its composition. Does this mean that the era of communications and high technologies in Azerbaijan is over and we are entering the era of digital development? Will renaming lead to some kind of development in this area?

Answer: The digital revolution, which is considered the main stage of the post-industrial era, envisages not only the development of the ICT sector. It provides for the application of know-how, innovation and digital potential in the economic system. The main activities of this ministry are the acceleration of digital transformation in the country and its rapid adaptation to modern trends. The mere fact that the ministry does not allow anyone but three mobile companies to enter the mobile communications market, its attitude to competition, clearly demonstrates its work and management efficiency.

Question: The President also signed a decree on some measures to improve management in the field of road transport. The Azerbaijan Land Transport Agency (AYNA) has been created under the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport. Will this solve the problems of ground transportation? Is it the centralized modern institutions ASAN-xidmət, DOST, ABAD, etc., created so far? Have they justified themselves that the creation of such structures continues?

Answer: The purpose of the renaming is to express an adequate reaction of the management to changing conditions, to present it as an integral part of the steps of structural reforms of the management system. Although the reforms do not come about by renaming. They relate to activities aimed at achieving specific goals and the ability to measure results. All this gives a clear idea of ​​the level of "good" governance.

Question: Is it possible at all to achieve any success in governance with the help of such institutions? What do you suggest to improve management?

Answer: It is important to control these institutions in at least two directions. One of them is related to the correct organization of parliamentary control. Another direction is the revival of the collapsed civil society, the creation of favorable conditions for it. Civil society institutions should create real, effective and objective control mechanisms within government structures, rather than formal Supervisory Boards. They can be called whatever you like. The main thing is that these structures are not parties to the conflict of interest, they have the will and professionalism to independently prepare reports. In the world, one of the main criteria for good governance is the ability to carry out quantitative and qualitative assessment. But, if the results are not suitable for measuring the efficiency of control, then there is nothing to talk about. 

Kamran Mahmudov