Page 50 - Azerbaijan State University of Economics

Emin Teymurov: Current State and Future Perspectives of Agricultural Exports of Azerbaijan: Bilateral
and Multilateral Aspects

- As continuation of this initiative, Export Support Center "One Window" has been
established, within the Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communication,
which operates as part of the “Azexport” web-portal. Using one window system in export
transaction, Azerbaijani entrepreneurs will spend less resource, which will contribute to
faster implementation of export procedures.

- In order to further simplifying export procedures, with the relevant decision of the
Ministry of Economy, starting from February 2016, time for issuance of certificate of
origin has been reduced from 3 days to 1 day.

- Partnership and Coordination Office of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) was established in Azerbaijan in 2016 [FAO, 2016]. Azerbaijan hopes that this
FAO Office would contribute to the Government’s policy of modernization of agriculture,
investment in know-how, capacity building, provision of food security and etc.

All of the above-mentioned measures will further contribute to the growth of agricultural
exports of Azerbaijan and improve country’s export structure, especially by taking into
account comparative advantages. In this regard, the SWOT analysis of agricultural exports
of Azerbaijan (Figure 1) can give an insight on subject matter and might be helpful to
uncover necessary details.

STRENGTHS OPPORTUNITIES
- Strong agricultural potential - Growing demand for agricultural products in
- Productive lands relevant CIS and Gulf countries
- Cheap and sufficient labor force - Demand for pomegranate wine, juice and sauce
- Favorable agri-climatic conditions in the EU, especially Germany
- State support to and concessions in - International food and agricultural trade fairs
agricultural sector offer an opportunity for B2B and networking
- Competitive bio-organic products - Devaluation of national currency
- Government support to exports - "Made in Azerbaijan" brand awareness in a
- Agri-tourism potential number of foreign markets
- Trade-related and logistics infrastructure - Growing demand for bio-organic products in the
- Location on the crossroad of international EU and USA
transport corridors - Participation in several free and regional trade
agreements
SWOT analyses of agricultural exports of Azerbaijan
WEAKNESSES THREATS
- Landlockedness of the country - Negative impacts of climate change
- Non-beneficiary of GSP/GSP+ systems - Severe competitition in strategic markets
- Non-membership in the WTO - Price volatilies for agricultural commodities in
global markets

Figure 1: SWOT analyses of agricultural exports of Azerbaijan

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