Guinea-Bissau president praises Azerbaijan's ASAN Service, eyes replication at home

The President of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, has visited the ASAN Service centre for public services as part of his official visit to Azerbaijan.

The president was greeted by the Chairman of the State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations under the President of Azerbaijan, Ulvi Mehdiyev, Caliber.Az reports citing local media.

Embaló was informed on the operations and history of the ASAN Service centers, which were established on the initiative of President Ilham Aliyev, as well as ongoing social innovation projects. Mehdiyev also spoke of the fact that the Asan Service model has been successfully implemented in various other countries.

The President of Guinea-Bissau praised the state service as a highly significant initiative and explained that such a concept does not exist in his country. He did express his desire to implement a similar project in Guinea-Bissau following his visit, which is the first of it's kind by a head of state from Guinea-Bissau to Azerbaijan.

Following Embaló's expressed interest in the service, a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of public service delivery was signed between the Azerbaijani State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations and the Office of the President of Guinea-Bissau. The memorandum outlines the application of ASAN Service's experience in Guinea-Bissau and the transfer of best practices in public service delivery by Azerbaijani experts to their counterparts.

As part of the visit to the public services center, the delegation was also introduced to the operations of the "INNOLAND" Incubation and Acceleration Center, the "Mobile ASAN" service and of the state enterprise supporting local family businesses "ABAD".

In the course of Embaló's visit to Azerbaijan, he was hosted by President Ilham Aliyev, visited the Victory Park and met with military officials.

By Nazrin Sadigova