EU Ambassador: We are interested in Azerbaijan being a stable and prosperous country

Shaki hosted an official ceremony on the successful completion of the project "Support for small Family Businesses in the Shaki-Zaqatala Economic Zone," funded by the European Union and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with ABAD.

According to Report, the head of the executive power of Sheki, Elkhan Usubov, the head of the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan, Ambassador Kestutis Jankauskas, UNDP Resident Representative for Azerbaijan Alessandro Fracassetti, and the director of ABAD, Rufat Elchiyev, attended the event.

All participants of the event stressed the importance of investing in family businesses to support local communities.

Since the launch of the project in 2017, 44 rural families have been supported in opening or expanding their businesses. These families were provided with the necessary training and resources to start working to promote their farms.

The training covered business development and planning, branding and sales, financial accounting, and legal services. Upon successful completion of these courses, beneficiaries were eligible to apply for the purchase of vital equipment and accessories for running their own business.

About 200 people received direct benefits from this project and up to 350-indirectly. 22 of the 44 new enterprises are headed by women, and 12 are internally displaced persons. Soon, all products will be available for purchase in ABAD ethno-boutiques and some supermarket chains of the country.

"We have seen the brilliant results of this project, and we thank the head of the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan for becoming a donor to this project. We also worked very closely with ABAD. Undoubtedly, this project is one of the illustrative examples of successful cooperation," Alessandro Fracassetti, UNDP Resident Representative in Azerbaijan, said at a press conference.

"We are more than sponsors. We are interested in Azerbaijan being a stable and prosperous country. Still, we especially want the regions and people in these regions to also take advantage of the opportunities we offer. Together we were able to get a high-quality product so that tourists in the future could get acquainted with these beautiful views, with the hospitality of local people and the cuisine of the regions," said the head of the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan, Kestutis Jankauskas.

Ulvi Badalov, being an expert on this project, said that the main attention was focused on the value chain of food and crafts. "We had a short trip to Croatia, Zagreb, and other country cities, which hosted a training program, and met with organizations that supported microbusiness in Croatia. We have already started developing marketing, merchandising, and advertising activities. We have done this at the regional level, that is, at festivals in the regions; in Baku, in supermarkets cooperating with ABAD, and in social networks and on other platforms."