Top official: Customs transparency brings more revenues to Azerbaijan’s budget

Transparency of the customs system of Azerbaijan, simplification of procedures and optimization of costs, facilitation of foreign trade have led to an increase in participants in foreign trade activities and budget revenues.

The statement was made by Assistant to Azerbaijan’s President - Head of the Department for Economic Affairs and Innovative Development Policy of the Presidential Administration Shahmar Movsumov during the Customs Business Forum 2023 (GBF23), held in Baku, Trend reports.

He noted that over the past three years, the share of inorganic chemical and plastic products in the export of non-oil products of Azerbaijan has increased.

“In 2015-2022, the volume of non-oil exports increased 2.3 times. At the same time, there was an increase in the number of types of non-oil exports. Of the 5,700 types of goods, 1,990 were exported, and 1,234 were permanently exported. Over the past three years, 35 new goods have been included in the export basket,” he emphasized.

Movsumov further went on to say that the complication of the global geopolitical situation over the past three years and the resulting uncertainty in the world commodity markets have created new opportunities and challenges for the Azerbaijani national economy.

He noted that geopolitical tensions, which threaten to destroy the global trading system, are a cause of concern for Azerbaijan.

"Taking this into account, one of the important directions of the socio-economic development strategy adopted by President Ilham Aliyev is to ensure the competitiveness of the economy, implement the transition to an export-oriented economic model, organise the production of high-tech products and play a special role in the global value chain," Movsumov added.

Addressing the event, Azerbaijan’s First Deputy Minister of Economy Elnur Aliyev said that about 300 intermediate goods used in local production were exempted from import duties this year.

He noted that an important part of improving the business environment in Azerbaijan is related to improving the system of customs and tax regulation of the economy.

Aliyev also noted that there is currently a Free Trade Agreement with 10 countries and a Preferential Trade Agreement with the Republic of Türkiye, concluded with the aim of increasing non-oil exports.

According to the preferential agreement signed with Türkiye, reciprocal preferential trade treatment is applied to certain agricultural and other goods produced by Azerbaijan and Türkiye.

He said that despite the decline in world market prices for oil and gas, there is a large surplus in the foreign trade balance.

Aliyev also said Azerbaijan has seen positive results in the direction of "whitening" of economic cycles of economic entities.

He noted that not only fiscal tools but also flexible control mechanisms play their role in regulating the economic environment in Azerbaijan.

As a result of the application of effective mechanisms of tax and customs control, positive results are observed in the direction of "whitening" the economic cycles of economic entities.

Then the official said In the first 10 months of this year Azerbaijan's exports exceeded $29 billion, trade surplus - $15 billion.

According to him, exports of the non-oil and gas sector grew by more than 11 per cent, exceeding $2.7 billion: "The share of non-oil industry products in non-oil and gas exports, excluding processed agricultural products, reached 68 per cent. In the first 9 months of this year, the share of industrial zones in non-oil and gas exports was 23 per cent".

One of the important issues facing the Azerbaijani economy is increasing export potential.

“In 2023, by decision of the government, the possibilities of using the special customs procedure for internal processing have been expanded. According to this procedure, the import of raw materials for the production of goods, which are then processed and exported from our country, is exempt from customs duties and taxes, including VAT. I would like to emphasize the importance of this step for financial support of domestic production. For 9 months of 2023, compared to the same period last year, products worth more than $500 million [an increase of 1.5 times] were placed under the customs procedure of internal processing. Thus, this indicator once again confirms that the mechanism under consideration is important for the development of the manufacturing and service sectors, especially for the expansion of export activities,” he noted.

Aliyev’s speech was followed by the remarks of the Chairman of the State Customs Committee Shahin Bagirov, who said the Azerbaijani government is working to put the Zangazur corridor into operation.

“The State Customs Committee (SCC) also participates in these processes. We are now working on the checkpoints of the Zangazur corridor. At the same time, we are working on new projects, and construction work will begin at the next stage,” Bagirov added.

The Customs-Business 2023 forum organised by the State Customs Committee as part of a series of events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of national leader Heydar Aliyev is being held in Baku today.

The event will include awarding letters of appreciation in the nominations "Support" and "Cooperation" to companies carrying out effective activity in the field of customs organisation.

Panel discussions on projects implemented by the State Customs Committee will be held at the end.