Real estate sphere to attract more foreign investments

An international conference, titled “Real Estate, Privatization and Investments” was held in Baku on November 29.

Karam Hasanov, chairman of the State Property Issues Committee while making remarks at the conference said that Big work is underway in Azerbaijan to attract foreign investments in real estate sphere.

He noted that conditions are created for foreign investors that allow them to operate on the same level as local investors in the country’s real estate market.

Hasanov emphasized that the conducted reforms allowed Azerbaijan to improve its position in such reports as the Global Competitiveness Rating and Doing Business.

“The country has improved the regulatory and legal framework in the field of protecting the rights and property of investors. Moreover, investors were granted various benefits and preferences in order to encourage investments,” said the committee head.

Hasanov went on saying that more than 1.1 billion manats (about $647 million) have been transferred to the Azerbaijani state budget until today as a result of privatization of state property.

Entrepreneurs from such countries as the U.S., UK, France, Switzerland, Turkey, Germany, Russia, China, Finland and Israel took part in the privatization of state property, he said.

He noted that the Committee has held 60 auctions since early 2017, during which more than 1,400 state enterprises were privatized, and it is planned to start privatization of big facilities in the future.

“We are very interested in attracting foreign investors to the privatization of big state facilities. Today, there are ample opportunities for development of cooperation in the field of privatization of engineering facilities, including oil, metallurgy, light industry, sports, tourism and other sectors,” said the committee head.“Inviting foreign investors, we are ready to declare that we will provide full support for your activities in the country.”

Earlier, Hasanov noted that the State Property Issues Committee intends to transfer more than 100 million manats (about $58 million)(obtained from the privatization of state-owned enterprises) to the state budget.

Ziyad Samadzade, chairman of the parliamentary committee on economic policy, industry and entrepreneurship, while addressing the event noted that Azerbaijan is among the countries with the least risk for foreign investors.

He noted that Azerbaijan’s external debt doesn’t exceed 18 percent of the country’s GDP, and this is one of the best indicators among developing countries.

“By investing in another country, investors are always interested in volume of its external debt,” Samadzade said. “In Azerbaijan, this figure is below 18 percent of GDP, and by this indicator we hold the first place among developing countries.”

The chairman also noted that Azerbaijan managed to create very favorable environment for investors.

“Social stability is ensured in the country, there is the necessary legislation, number of inspections have been reduced, entrepreneurs are supported,” Samadzade said. “High technology parks have been created in Azerbaijan and their residents are exempt from paying taxes for a period of seven years.”