WB to perform diagnostics of Azerbaijan’s private sector - EXCLUSIVE

"We'll start developing the World Bank Group's new strategy next year, and the first stage in this process will be to carry out the diagnostics of Azerbaijan's private sector," Aliya Azimova, IFC Country Representative for Azerbaijan, told Report.

According to her, this will be a deep report on the private sector: "The report will reflect the opportunities to increase the role of the private sector in the economic growth and reveal problems in this sector. Based on this document, the World Bank will perform the diagnostics of the country's economy. Later on, we will develop the IFC strategy and WB Group's Country Partnership Framework."

She said the strategy would cover 2021-2026.

Azimova added that the IFC delegation would visit Baku in January to develop the strategy: "While analyzing the private sector, we'll research areas with high potential. We may also choose the priority sectors while developing a strategy based on this document. We'll take it into account in our further activity. The works will start in January 2020. The assessment of the private sector will take 6-9 months. Other documents will be prepared on par with it. A large team comprised of economists will visit Baku in early 2020."

Azerbaijan has been in cooperation with the WB since 1992.