OSCE Baku Office leads study tour of business development projects near Vienna

BAKU, 22 January 2003 - The OSCE Office in Baku will conduct a three-day study tour next week of industrial parks and development schemes for small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) in the Danube Basin.

First-hand knowledge of creating and operating these so-called "business incubators" is very limited in Azerbaijan, and the trip is aimed at providing invaluable exposure and knowledge of existing schemes and industrial parks in Central Europe.

Organized in conjunction with the Government of Azerbaijan and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the tour from 27 to 29 January will be attended by representatives of the Azeri Ministry of Economic Development, the Council of Ministers, the UNDP Office in Azerbaijan and several small-business interest groups.

"We believe that this trip will provide Azeri business and government representatives with an opportunity to get familiar with best practices and knowledge of successful business incubators including operational and management tactics, government relations, incubator incentives and services, and specialized legislation," said Ambassador Peter Burkhard, Head of the OSCE Office in Baku.

The tour supports the goals of the Government of Azerbaijan's National Poverty Reduction Strategy for 2002-2005 to create business incubators in order to stimulate growth of SMEs in Azerbaijan.

Participants will hold meetings with the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), which is based in Vienna, and will visit the nearby Eco Plus Business Park in Wiener Neustadt, Austria. A visit to the Györ Business Park across the border in Hungary is also planned.

Ambassador Burkhard said it was hoped this study tour could help facilitate the creation of the first business incubators in Baku. If successful, these could be replicated throughout Azerbaijan.