The current event was dedicated to the ongoing reforms in the labour market in Azerbaijan and was attended by the honorary guest speaker Mr Sahil Babayev, Minister of Labour and Social Protection of Population of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
The event was opened with a welcoming speech of Mr Tobias Baumann, Executive Director of AHK Azerbaijan and was followed by the presentation of Mr Rizvan Gubiyev, Tax Director of KPMG Azerbaijan Limited on “International practices in tackling informal employment through tax policy”.
Afterwards, Mr Sahil Babayev, Minister of Labour and Social Protection of Population delivered a speech on “Implementing labour market reforms for Azerbaijan”. Emphasising the human factor as the main direction of the state policy, Mr Babayev mentioned that this year ongoing reforms in the labour market covers four main directions: Automation of pension system; establishing "DOST" centres; introduction of e-social internet portal and improving the quality of employment services. The minister noted that the expansion of e-services in the field of employment and provision of 124 services by the Ministry through a single-window in a simplified and non-restrictive way play a crucial role in ensuring transparency and effectiveness of the system.
Furthermore, it was noted that the implementation of the projects related to the Agency for Sustainable and Operative Social Security (DOST), established under the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Population in accordance with the Decree of the President Mr Ilham Aliyev dated 9 August 2018, is being completed and the first “DOST” centre will be put into operation in the first months of 2019.
The minister stated that the "e-social" internet portal, which incorporates data of citizens on the state social services (labour contract, personal account, pension capital, types of social security, disability, etc.), is already operating and the work conducted to improve the portal will be continued during the next year.
Pointing out the reduction of the tax burden of workers in the non-oil sector of Azerbaijan and amendments to the legislation in the employment field as positive cases, Minister said that the cooperation with the Ministry of Taxes and other relevant government agencies will be continued to prevent non-formal employment and to ensure coordinated work in this sphere.
After concluding his the speech, Minister responded to the questions of AHK Azerbaijan members on the mentioned issues and called business representatives for supporting the ongoing reforms and conducted work with their comments and suggestions.
The event was concluded with networking lunch.
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