WB ready to help Azerbaijan reform labor market

The World Bank (WB) supports Azerbaijan’s employment strategy and is eager to support the country’s employment action plan, Head of the WB Baku Office Naveed Naqvi told Trend.He noted that, the bank supports the Labor Ministry of Azerbaijan in this direction, adding that work to improve the existing pension system and targeted social assistance, moreover to create job opportunities, is being implemented.”Moreover, we carry out work with the Taxes Ministry on tax reforms, the Finance Ministry on budgetary reforms and we hope to continue our technical support in different sectors,” Naqvi emphasized.Speaking of the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), he noted that SMEs form a backbone of any normal economy and it is important to support this area.According to him, SMEs need good business environment and labor market.He recalled that Azerbaijan has improved its position in the WB’s latest Doing Business report and now holds the 25th place, as a result of the taken measures to improve the business environment in the country.Naqvi went on to say that in another ranking – Human Capital Index, which indicates how efficient the labor market is, Azerbaijan ranks 71st.”So, there is a big gap between business environment and labor force. My suggestion is that the government needs to boost education and health systems. The Labor Ministry eyes to reform the labor force of the country and we are happy to support the government’s these efforts,” he underlined.Azerbaijan has been a member of WB since 1992. The bank has implemented in the country over 50 projects, in the amount of more than $3 billion. Currently, seven projects, worth about $1.5 billion, are being implemented.