On 6 July 2022, the German-Azerbaijani Chamber of Commerce (AHK Azerbaijan) organised the next AHK Impuls event for its member companies. The event was dedicated to employment policies and practices in Azerbaijan. The honorary guest speaker of the event, Mr Mustafa Abbasbeyli, Chairman of the Board of the State Employment Agency under the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Population of the Republic of Azerbaijan delivered a speech on "Role of Employment Policy in Ensuring Economic Development".
Opening the event, Mr Tobias Baumann, Executive Board Member of AHK Azerbaijan, welcomed the member companies and partners before introducing and handing over the floor to the honorary guest of the event, Mr Mustafa Abbasbeyli.
In his speech, Mr Abbasbeyli emphasised the ministry’s aim to attract and retain as many people as possible in the active labour market, i.e., the taxpayers, underlining how a disturbance in the transition between the active labour market contributors and social security beneficiaries would be detrimental to the economic state. He then stated how the Azerbaijani labour market legislation continued to be socially oriented but aimed at transitioning into a hybrid model, which would be a balance between the social state and liberal economy.
Mr Abbasbeyli then provided details on the relationship between economic and population growth, which in the case of developing nations such as Azerbaijan, is defined by stronger population growth than an economic one. This leads to issues such as not being able to provide sufficient job positions. Yet, it is also an advantage as population growth means more consumption and demand in the economy, increasing the GDP through production growth, thus, creating more employment.
Mr Abbasbeyli highlighted the significance of applying innovation, especially in economic sectors with high employment but low productivity, such as agriculture, as well as underlining the size of the informal economy in Azerbaijan, which is estimated to equal to the number of labour agreements.
Moreover, he expressed the importance of the digital economy and digital transformation. The ministry is one of the most innovative government bodies, with more than 100 services out of 130 being provided electronically. Finally, the Chairman of the Board of the State Employment Agency concluded his speech by emphasising the significance of SME development in increasing economic sustainability and diversification.
The event then continued with a Q&A session accompanied by a networking dinner.
