The events were dedicated to the development of SMEs in Azerbaijan and were entitled “Support to small and medium entrepreneurship: Necessity for the secured transactions reform” (24 November) and “Innovations in SME banking conference: new opportunities for banks in Azerbaijan” (25 November).
The message Switzerland delivered in the conferences focused on the necessity of productive SMEs for a more diversified and sustainable economic development of Azerbaijan. The Deputy Regional Director of the SCO South Caucasus, Dr. Simone Haeberli, drew parallels between the volume of SME contribution to the economies of Azerbaijan and Switzerland in 2014. She said that in Switzerland, SMEs contributed around 60% to GDP and employed nearly 70% of the workforce, whereas in Azerbaijan, these figures stood at 10% and 15% respectively. In real figures, Swiss SMEs generated USD 390 billion in 2014, whereas for Azerbaijan this figures stands at less than USD 8 billion.
One of the conferences discussed access to finance as an important means for development of SMEs to be able to contribute to the economy. Ms. Haeberli said: “According to a recent enterprise survey conducted by the World Bank, more than 50% of SMEs in Azerbaijan reported access to finance as their main constraint. Only 15% of SMEs in Azerbaijan said they had loans from banks. Given the current economic context, access to finance will become even more difficult, especially for SMEs.” She said that financial institutions can also contribute to the creditworthiness of SMEs, for instance by providing non-financial services such as business advice.
The events were attended by government officials, central bank employees and many bankers. The conferences were covered by Azerbaijani media reporting on economic issues:
