RESPONSIBLE ENTREPRENEURSHIP VISION DEVELOPMENT AND ETHICS

Government support for entrepreneurship: case of Azerbaijan 443
one-stop shop - State Business Registry - without additional fees to speed the cumbersome
process up, which is saving businesses an estimated $8.4 million annually (Bagaudinova, Khalifa,
& Petriashvili, 2009)
Customs procedures – “e-Customs”. “Decree on the application of the principle of ‘single
window’ for inspecting the goods and vehicles transported across the border checkpoints
of the Azerbaijan Republic” helped to simplify the customs procedures for entrepreneurs. In
accordance with the Presidential Decree on 11 November 2008 “On application of ‘Single
Window’ concept during the check of goods and transport means passing through the checkpoint
on the border of the Republic of Azerbaijan” the State Customs Committee was appointed
as the responsible party of introduction of the “Single Window” concept on the border checkpoints.
To modernize the customs service and provide more favorable conditions for business
and international trade, adopted the “State Program on development of the customs system
of the Azerbaijan Republic for 2007 to 2011.” Under this Program, 11 November 2008, the
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan signed the “Decree on the application of the principle
of ‘single window’ for inspecting the goods and vehicles transported across the border
checkpoints of the Azerbaijan Republic”. Thus, from January 1, 2009 in Azerbaijan in the
clearance of goods and cargoes at the customs border the “single window” system was implemented.
(UNECE, 2011). In addition to simplified procedures, ceiling for import custom duty
was set at 15 %.
After these changes impacted Azerbaijan’s rating in “Doing Business Report” initiated
by WB, which reached 63 out of 183 countries being listed in 2015. At the same time funds
being allocated to non-oil sector had rocketed 13 times within 2004-2013 period.
Challenges faced by SMEs
Between 2004 and 2015, more than 70 thousand companies were established and total
number of companies reached 100 thousand. In this timespan, 1.5 million new job openings
were created; 1 million of them were permanent. Meanwhile, population of the country
increased by 1.3 million during this period. That means, growth rate in entrepreneurship is
notable, but seems not rather enough. More efforts is required to ensure that the growth in
businesses match the growth in population to avoid unemployment concerns.
It is more than 16 years that government gives subsidies and tax cuts mainly to agriculture
sector, but this sector still need continuous of the support. Despite the increasing government
support to stimulate non-oil sectors, share of agriculture sector (with 37.1% of labor
force) in GDP decreased to 5% in 2015 despite increase in government support. Part of this
can be explained by total increase in GDP, however, declining share of agriculture demonstrates
that government support needs to focus more on the most pressing needs of
entrepreneurs in agricultural sector.
Another noteworthy point is the involvement of women in entrepreneurial activities. Only
19% of these physical person entrepreneurs are women, more than 60% of which operate in
regions despite the fact that as of 2015, 40% of unemployed persons are women. Engaging
more women in entrepreneurial activities may help to reduce unemployment among women.
Although weak participation of women in entrepreneurial activities is connected to cultural
matters, taking measures to eliminate barriers for women entrepreneurs in starting and managing
a business may help to attract more female entrepreneurs.