Strategies of the Development of Entrepreneurship and SME

5.3.3. SME support infrastructure in Azerbaijan.There a lot of organizations which support entrepreneurship development in Azerbaijan.They are governmental, non-governmental and private organizations. The main aims of theseorganizations are to protect the rights of the entrepreneurial subjects, their property and otherlegal interests, assist strengthening of the market infrastructure and entrepreneurshipdevelopment, provide the establishment of permanent business relations between Azeri andforeign businessmen, assist work out of the investment, innovation and other initiative projectsand formation of sound entrepreneurship environment, prepare and realize various socialeconomicoriented projects and programs, create conditions for study of the world experienceof entrepreneurship and its available application in Azerbaijan, etc.1. Ministry of Economic Development of Azerbaijan Republic2. Ministry of Agriculture of Azerbaijan Republic3. Ministry of Taxes of Azerbaijan Republic4. National Fund to Support on Entrepreneurship5. Governmental Agency for standardization, metrology and patents6. National Confederation of Entrepreneurs (Employers’) Organizations7. Azerbaijan Promotion of Export and Investment Agency;8. Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce and Trade;9. Several private consulting firms and Business Information Centres10.Business Associations and Unions (NGOs)In spite of the existence of these organizations, supporting SMEs development in thecountry there is a gap in support system from Parliament, local executive bodies in the regions.So, we don’t have special Commission on "Entrepreneurship”, working groups lobbying theinterests of SMEs in our Parliament yet. The responsibilities of our local executive bodies forentrepreneurship development have not been formulated on legal bases yet. Theinterdepartmental coordination on entrepreneurship development and support is executed bythe Ministry of Economic development of Azerbaijan Republic. But, there is nointerdepartmental Councils or Commissions for effective coordination attached to the Ministryof Economic Development of Azerbaijan Republic.By one word, the existing support infrastructure to SMEs assists them in the following issues:- protection of the SMEs’ rights;- business consulting services;- information supply;- specialists’ training, etc.At the moment SMEs support infrastructure is mostly situated in Baki. The relevantCentral Executive Organs pursuing the policy on entrepreneurship support such as Ministry ofEconomic Development, Ministry of Agriculture are situated in Baki, Ministry of Taxes has itsregional offices, Chamber of Commerce and Industry, other business associations have theiroffices only in Baku.The National Confederation of Entrepreneurs (Employers') Organizations of AzerbaijanRepublic (AEC) was established on March 5, 1999 and officially registered on 9 April 1999. AECbeing a union of employers in Azerbaijan Republic is a non-commercial, non-governmental,self-managing organisation co-ordinating activities of the juridical and physical persons dealingwith the entrepreneurial activity not-dependent on their property and organisation-legal form(excluding state-financed organisations) on voluntary basis, protecting their legal and economicrights, having social-effective objectives and considering not to get profit as the basic principleof its activity.106