On 16 February 2017, Entrepreneurship Development Foundation (EDF) held a conference dedicated to the monitoring results of "Azerbaijan 2020: Outlook for the Future" Concept in Baku. The event was organized within the framework of the Project “Discussion Platform for Promoting Development in Azerbaijan,” implemented by the EDF in partnership with the Center of Support for Economic Initiatives, the Center for Economic and Social Development and Economic Researches Center under the financial support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. The conference was attended by the members of the Parliament, officials from several ministries and state committees, representatives from the Embassy of Switzerland, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the Embassy of the United States, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Embassy of Japan as well as experts from the international and local financial institutions, academicians and NGO members.
Sabit Baghirov, EDF President, made the opening speech and briefed the participants on the Project. Vahid Ahmadov, Member of the Parliament and Philipp Stalder, Ambassador of Switzerland to the Republic of Azerbaijan, delivered the welcome address.
The conference continued its work in two plenaries. Moderated by Vahid Ahmadov, the first plenary discussed the findings of the monitoring of "Azerbaijan 2020: Outlook for the Future" Concept. Sabit Baghirov, President of Entrepreneurship Development Foundation, Galib Toghrul, Chairman of Economic Researches Center, Azer Mehtiyev, Chairman of the Center of Support for Economic Initiatives, and Vugar Bayramov, Chairman of the Center for Economic and Social Development spoke on the monitoring results. The representatives from the Ministry of Economy and other government agencies gave their opinions on the results of the monitoring. The discussion went on with questions and answers.
Following the lunch break, the second plenary titled "Path to future development" kicked off under the moderation of Rasim Musabeyov, Member of the Parliament. Naveed Hassan Naqvi, Country Manager for the World Bank Azerbaijan Office spoke about the role of the World Bank in supporting development programs in Azerbaijan, while Haeberli Simone, Deputy Regional Director of the Swiss Cooperation Office in the South Caucasus focused her speech on the Swiss government's support policy. Ilkin Garayev, Chairman of the Center for Support of Small and Medium Enterprise Development shared his perspectives on the strategic road map for the development of small enterprises. The plenary ended following the question and answer session.
