With the support of the Ministry of Economy and the participation of officials from relevant departments, the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) organized an online meeting with the heads of retail chains.

At the meeting, Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov stressed that the head of state draw special attention and care to the development of entrepreneurship, and business development is always supported by the state. From this viewpoint, enabling environment have been created for the expansion of the activities of entrepreneurs dealing with trade. Businesses in the commercial sector have taken advantage of government support measures to mitigate the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic, support businesses and protect jobs.

It was noted at the meeting that reforms, liberalization and the formation of a market economy have created favorable conditions for the development of trade, among other things, and the retail sector and the size of the market has expanded in recent years. Trade networks have a special role in the development of this area. These chains meet the needs of the population for consumer goods, supplying the market with goods and services. Despite the limitations of the pandemic period, retail chains have ensured the sustainability of their activities, the stability of the supply chain and the full and complete satisfaction of consumer needs.

The Minister of Economy informed about the measures aimed at legalizing labor relations, strengthening public control over sales operations, including about changes in tax legislation covering discounts and exemptions in order to optimize the tax burden and stimulate the activities of entrepreneurs in the field of trade, including retail trading, and noted that the main purpose of the meeting was to study the challenges faced by trade networks and identify measures to address them, and invited the participants to active discussions and open dialogue.

Chairman of the Board of the Small and Medium Business Development Agency under the Ministry of Economy Orkhan Mammadov stressed that the meeting was a continuation of the activities carried out as part of the state-business dialogue, and that it’s important in studying the current situation in the sector and the expectations of entrepreneurs and in discussing steps to be taken in this area, and informed about the relations between large trade networks and SMBs, and the efforts to be carried out to regulate the relevant area.

Chairman of the "Trade Networks Development" Public Association Samir Abdullaev shared his views on the activities and planned measures of the organization headed by him and on building retail chains activities in line with increasing consumer satisfaction.

The heads of retail chains spoke about the challenges they face and voiced proposals for further improving the quality of retail.

The meeting held discussions and answered questions.