Expert: Industrial zones to speed up Karabakh's integration into national economy

Industrial zones will significantly accelerate the integration process of Azerbaijan's liberated territories into the national economy, Economist-expert Amal Hasanli told Report.

"These areas have a rich resource and infrastructure potential. Their effective use is one of the main priorities. In this context, the establishment of industrial zones in the liberated lands will play an important role in stimulating private initiatives in those territories, the maximum effective realization of industrial potential, the creation of modern and efficient production," Hasanli said.

According to him, industrial zones contribute to the expansion of entrepreneurship, especially in the regions, and stimulate competitive exports based on high technologies:

"The basic philosophy of industrial zones is to create a comfortable working environment for entrepreneurs and employees. Thus, residents of industrial parks are exempt from property tax, land tax, income or profit tax for ten years, and equipment imported for production purposes is exempt from VAT and customs duties for seven years. All this stimulates investment in these areas. As a result, more than 6 billion manats were invested in industrial zones."

Hasanli stressed that industrial zones provide increased employment, especially in the regions:

"More than 10,000 actual jobs have been created in those zones. Such zones minimize the country's dependence on foreign markets by stimulating the production of import-substituting products. At the same time, it increases the production of competitive products in foreign markets by ensuring the sustainable development of the non-oil sector in the country. Looking at the latest official figures, we can see that production in industrial zones in 2021 boosted by 88.3% compared to the previous year. The volume of exports by industrial zones rose 2.7 times during the reporting period."

The expert believes that industrial zones play a crucial role in the formation and rapid development of the country's non-oil industry.