AmCham Members’ February Luncheon with the Chairman Mr. Shahin Baghirov

On February 15, 2023, the American Chamber of Commerce in Azerbaijan (AmCham Azerbaijan) hosted its Members’ February Luncheon with honorable guest speaker Mr. Shahin Baghirov, Chairman of the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan. 

The event started with a minute of silence to commemorate the victims of the massive earthquake in the Republic of Turkey. 

Opening the luncheon, Executive Director of AmCham Azerbaijan, Ms. Gulnara Aslanbayli welcomed the participants. Ms. Aslanbayli briefly touched upon the projects implemented within the strategic goals of the Chamber, as well as talked on the upcoming plans and events. She also informed the audience on the start of the drafting of White Paper 2023 and called all members to be actively involved in the preparation process. 

President of AmCham Azerbaijan Ms. Nargiz Nasrullayeva-Muduroglu introduced the honorable guest speaker Chairman Mr. Shahin Baghirov and expressed her congratulations for his recent appointment. Ms. President also emphasized sustained activity of AmCham Azerbaijan on continuing supporting and promoting the interests of foreign and local businesses in Azerbaijan, as well as significance of the established fruitful dialogue and successful cooperation with the State Customs committee in this direction.  

The chairman of the State Customs Committee, the lieutenant general of the customs service Mr. Shahin Bagirov noted that he attaches special importance to the establishment of relations with business representatives of the customs bodies on a business basis, as well as open and transparent dialogue in customs-business cooperation, and emphasized that necessary steps have been taken to increase the efficiency of mutual relations. It was also mentioned that one of the main goals defined for the customs service is to create fertile conditions for business subjects in the customs field, to study and implement their suggestions and opinions regarding the adopted decisions and applied innovations.

For this purpose, it has been brought to attention that the action plan has been prepared by the customs authorities in recent times, and the implementation of innovative projects based on digital solutions has been started to increase the rationality, transparency, and accessibility of the procedures, to implement the customs operations in an easy and fast manner. The chairman also delivered an information on the mission of the customs authorities, the priority directions of the future activities, strategic goals, and the projects, innovations, and benefits for businesses. 

The presentation was followed by an interactive Q&A session, where suggestions and opinions of business representatives were considered, and all questions were addressed by the Chairman Baghirov.

Afterwards, AmCham Tax & Customs committee chairperson Ms. Narmin Aslanova gave a brief information on the upcoming plans and activities of the committee. She also highlighted that the Chamber attaches significant value to the collaboration with the committee and further strengthening of ties among customs authorities. 

Associate professor at ADA University Mr. Anar Valiyev delivered a presentation on the results of the research project on “Factors affecting Education-Labour market mismatch in Azerbaijan and finding sustainable solutions for employers” jointly implemented with the Chamber.

Thereafter, member presentations on portfolio and activity direction of the companies were delivered by Grand Logistic Center and ISR Auto. 

Over 150 people participated in the luncheon including high-ranking government officials, representatives of diplomatic corps, senior executives from business community and member companies.

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Date
15 February 2023
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