President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has attended the opening of “Baku SME house”.
Chairman of the Management Board of the Small and Medium Business Development Agency (KOBIA) Orkhan Mammadov informed the head of state about the “Baku SME house”, which is located in Narimanov district of the capital.
It was reported that the total area of “Baku SME house”, which is the 3rd in number, is 11,262 square meters. The first two floors of the three-story building are designed to serve entrepreneurs, while the third floor is intended for staff. "Baku SME house" has the potential to serve 5,000 entrepreneurs per a day. The three-story building has meeting, training, startup and mediation rooms, as well as a conference hall to serve entrepreneurs.
More than 150 services will be provided to entrepreneurs by 29 government bodies and more than 100 services by 20 private entities in “Baku SME house”. Entrepreneurs can contact "Baku SME House" for business registration, obtaining licenses and permits, development of a business plan, access to preferential financial resources, tax, customs issues, connection to communal services, banking, insurance and other issues. In addition, a wide range of services related to customs and import-export operations will be provided in the International Trade, Development and Logistics Zone established in "Baku SME House".
It was noted that the SME houses are a single space where government and business services are centrally provided to entrepreneurs. Here, services are provided on the principles efficiency, transparency, courtesy and convenience. Collecting business services in one place, saving time and costs, and efficiency are the main advantages of SME houses.
More than 170,000 services have been provided to entrepreneurs that are currently operating in Khachmaz and Yevlakh SME houses, of which more than 165,000 are government-to-business (G2B) services, and nearly 9,000 are business-to-business (B2B) services. The satisfaction level of entrepreneurs with the services of SME houses is 98 percent.
It should be noted that increasing the role of entrepreneurship, especially small and medium enterprises, in ensuring the sustainable economic development of Azerbaijan is one of the priority areas of socio-economic policy implemented under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev. In continuation of the systematic measures implemented in the development of private sector in our country, the Agency for Development of Small and Medium Businesses (KOBIA) was established under the Ministry of Economy according to the Decree of the Head of State dated December 28, 2017.
KOBIA provides support and services to entrepreneurs in the areas of information, advice, training, protection of interests, improved access to markets and financial resources, coordination with public and private institutions and other areas. These support and services are delivered through KOBIA's wide infrastructure network covering different cities and regions of the country - SME friends, SME development centers and SME houses. Thus, SME development centers offer free information, consultations, training and business plan services to enhance the business knowledge of SMEs. The protection of the interests of SMEs, access to necessary support and services in the regions of the country is realized through the "SME friendly" network operating in 38 cities and districts.
In addition, KOBIA issues a "Startup" certificate to micro and small business entities, which exempts them from profit and income tax on the income they get from innovation activities for a period of 3 years, financial support is provided for internal market research, education, science, research and project support, free participation in exhibitions and access to retail chains is provided.
