Azernews.Az

Nazrin Abdul

Read more

Starting this year, the Entrepreneurship Development Fund (EDF) will allocate preferential loans in two new priority areas.

Azernews reports that this was announced by Rustam Aliyev, Head of the EDF Partner Relations Department, at the 1st National Financial Accessibility Forum held in Baku today.

He explained that the priority areas are approved annually by the fund's supervisory board: "The priority areas approved for 2025 include projects focused on industrial production, the production and processing of agricultural products, logistics services, the creation of warehouse complexes, fisheries, digital development and innovation, green projects, as well as projects related to the development of mass media, tourism, education, and the medical sector. I would like to note that tourism is financed only outside of Baku, Sumgayit, and Absheron. Other areas are supported throughout the republic."

"From this year, two new priority areas have been added. One is the service sector, where only the financing of equipment purchases is allowed, at an annual rate of 9%. The purchased equipment is also financed through pledging.

The second new priority area is the cultural and creative sector. These priority areas are reviewed annually and may change. Additionally, the number of documents required for applications has been simplified, reducing the list from 10 to 6," R. Aliyev emphasized.

He also added that the Business Development Fund will offer special concessions to green projects regarding the scope of fund usage.

"I won’t disclose the exact details, but I expect that in upcoming projects, there will be special concessions for green projects regarding both the term and the loan amount."

"If an entrepreneur wants to finance their green project with up to 10 million manats, they can benefit from the fund’s preferential loans, with 75% of the financing covered by the fund and only 25% requiring personal funds," said R. Aliyev.