Majority of residents in Karabakh, Eastern Zangazur provided with job opportunities by development program

Newly released data shows that the vast majority of the working population residing in the liberated territories of Karabkah and Eastern Zangazur has been secured with employment. 

Azerbaijan's Minister of Employment Labor and Social Protection Sahil Babayev shared that 86% of that population are currently economically active. As Caliber.Az reports citing local government sources, the minister provided this figure while speaking at an informational event on the "Karabakh KOB" (in English: Karabakh SME's) project on January 10, a joint effort implemented by the State Employment Agency together with the Small and Medium Business Development Agency (KOBIA). 

The project is widely aimed at supporting those efforts that are designed to improve the social welfare and employment of war participants, martyrs and their family members.

Babayev noted that since the end of the Second Karabakh War, employment support has been provided to over 25,300 individuals. Among them, 12,200 people have participated in self-employment programs, 1,054 have completed professional training, while the remainder have been provided with suitable job opportunities. In adition, small enterprises have been established for 524 family members of martyrs and war veterans through social partnership initiatives.

The "Karabakh KOB" project is also being supported by the Development Corporation, the National Educational Technology Center, and with financial backing from local conglomerate PASHA Holding. 

Orkhan Mammadov, the Chairman of KOBİA, announced that 70 small and medium-sized enterprises were established in 2024 within the framework of the initiative in Fuzuli, Zabukh (Lachin district), Agali (Zangilan district), as well as in Baku, Ganja, Barda, and Goranboy. 

Since the project's launch in 2023, a total of 120 enterprises have been created and its participants have received training to enhance their business skills while also being provided with necessary equipment under the self-employment program.

By Nazrin Sadigova