The Republican Scientific-Practical Conference on the topic “The role of small and medium-sized enterprises in the sustainable development of the National Economy” was held at UNEC.

The representatives of the public and private organizations, along with the academic-teaching staff of UNEC participated in the conference, organized by the faculty of “Business and Management”.

The dean of the faculty, the associated professor Miragha Ahmadov highlighted that the development of small and medium enterprises (SMS) was one of the main priorities of large-scale economic reforms in Azerbaijan, and said that the “Stategic Road Map for the Production of Consumer Goods at the level of Small and Medium Enterprises in the Republic of Azerbaijan” approved by the President Ilham Aliyev, was one of the main factors characterisizing the state promotion and support to SME. He assessed the establishment of the Agency for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises as the part of institutional and structural reforms.

Arif Valimammadov, the Deputy Executive Director of the National Fund  for Enterpreneurship Support  under the Ministry of Economic Development of the  Azerbaijan Republic spoke about the activities of the fund in preparation and implementation of regional programs and investment projects.

The chairman of the Center for Economic and Social Development (CESD), the economist scientist Vugar Bayramov spoke about the positive impact of the development of SME in the formation of the innovative economy in Azerbaijan.  The scientist emphasized that, the recent report of the Davos Economic Forum had regarded Azerbaijan as one of the most innovative countries in the world, and pointed out that it was the indicator of realizing the transformation from the resource economy to the innovative economy in the country.

The chairman of the Association of Insurers of Azerbaijan, Mustafa Abbasbeyli, stated that one of the main targets of the economic policy implemented in our counry was the development of small and medium sized enterprises and spoke about the reforms carried out in this area. The manager of the Compliance Department of  the  “Kapital Bank”, Kamil Latifov spoke about the role of the banking  sector in the development of SMEs.

The chairman of the UNEC Student Scientific Society Aslan Azimzadeh said that the conference would play the important role in transforming the innovative ideas of the students into enterpreneural subjects.

After the speeches, the participants were given the certificates.

The conference continued its work in the panel discussions.