AHK Impuls hosted the Chairman of the State Customs Committee Safar Mehtiyev

On 29 October 2021, the German-Azerbaijani Chamber of Commerce (AHK Azerbaijan) organised the next AHK Impuls event for its member companies. The honorary guest speaker of the event, Mr Safar Mehdiyev, Chairman of State Customs Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan, delivered a speech on the topic of "Strengthening Public-Private Partnership in Customs Control and Clearance". The event was held in the Hyatt Hall of the Hyatt Regency Baku Hotel in strict compliance with all requirements of the quarantine regime and recommendations for safety and health.

Opening the event, Mr Tobias Baumann, Executive Board Member of AHK Azerbaijan greeted the participants and briefly introduced the agenda of the event.

Following this, the honorary speaker of the event, Mr Mehdiyev gave detailed information to the participants of the event on the activities of the State Customs Committee and the work carried out by the Committee to increase transparency, to combat the shadow economy and smuggling and to strengthen the human potential against the changing global economic landscape. He especially mentioned the activities of the Committee to significantly reduce the scope of the physical inspections and increase their efficiency as a result of the public-private partnership. Additionally, Mr Mehdiyev spoke about the recent fiscal reforms implemented in Azerbaijan, including e-services provided by the Committee and priority goals set to improve this area.

Talking about the implementation of modern and facilitated procedures and its adaptation into the legislation, he informed the participants of the work by the Committee to improve the “Green Corridor” system and develop the customs services and stressed the importance of applying the principle of voluntary participation when paying the customs duties. Mr Mehdiyev noted that 750 companies had already joined the “Green Corridor” system and they constitute 30% of total exports and 41% of total imports.

Touching upon the utmost importance they attach to the international cooperation and foreign direct investments, Mr Mehdiyev said that new Customs Code had been drafted to ensure a competitive economy, moreover new trends in the global trade was reflected in the Azerbaijani customs reforms. He emphasised that the digitalisation of the services would provide the population with easy and convenient access to these services and increase the opportunities to optimise the current system.

After his speech, Mr Mehdiyev answered questions raised by the AHK Azerbaijan members and expressed his gratitude to the Chamber for the given opportunity to have direct dialogue with the representatives of the private sector. The event was concluded with a networking lunch.