By Azernews

By Sabina Mammadli

Women made up 21.4 percent of entrepreneurs registered to engage in entrepreneurial activities without establishing a legal entity in the country as of January 1, 2022.

Women entrepreneurs account for 30.5 percent of those registered in Baku, 10.1 percent in Lankaran-Astara, 8.8 percent in Gazakh-Tovuz, and the remainder in other economic regions. The majority of female entrepreneurs work in service (52.4 percent), agriculture (24 percent), and other industries.

Women's roles in social, economic, and cultural life in the world, as well as in Azerbaijan, are expanding.

One of the priorities of the Small and Medium Business Development Agency (SMBDA) is to promote and support women's self-employment and entrepreneurship.

The Agency offers training, consulting, international training, access to financial resources and sales markets, grants, exhibition participation, the trading portal "kobmarket.az", domestic market research, and "Startup" certificates to help women start businesses and expand their entrepreneurial activity. So far, five grants have been awarded to women entrepreneurs, and four startup certificates have been awarded to women entrepreneurs.

The participation of approximately 30 women entrepreneurs in exhibitions held in our country and abroad was supported in 2021 and in January-February of this year.

Last year, the Agency's SME Development Centers provided training and consulting services to approximately 9,000 women entrepreneurs and women looking to start their own businesses. Women make up about 21 percent of entrepreneurs and managers who benefit from SMBDA's international training program.

SMBDA also works with a variety of local and international organizations to support women's entrepreneurship, researches best international practices in this field, and promotes women's entrepreneurship and self-employment. The Agency's Public Council is actively represented by the Association for the Development of Women's Entrepreneurship.

So far, SMBDA has received over 1,000 applications from entrepreneurs seeking to establish businesses and provide jobs and services in the liberated territories, with approximately 50 of these applications coming from women entrepreneurs.

The importance of women's entrepreneurship in the country's long-term development, as well as the potential to increase the number of women in SMEs, cannot be overstated.