In the last 20 years, the Entrepreneurship Development Fund under the Ministry of Economy has granted more than 3 billion manats ($1.8 billion) in concessional loans to finance more than 45,600 investment projects of business entities, Mammad Musayev, president of the National Confederation of Entrepreneurs (Employers) Organizations, said at a conference themed "State-business partnership: the basis of a sustainable economy" in Baku, Report informs.

According to him, more than 176,000 new jobs were established owing to the funded projects during this period. More than 80% of it falls to the regions: "The development of entrepreneurship in Azerbaijan has become one of the most important elements of regional economic policy. When talking about the new socio-economic reality of the regions, first of all, the successful implementation of the state programs on the socio-economic development of the regions implemented in the country from 2004 to the present day is remembered. Over the past years, infrastructure projects have been successfully implemented in cities and regions, villages, and towns. Consistent measures have been taken to improve the lifestyle of the country's citizens, and the scale of such projects is currently being expanded."

"In 2022, the real production in regions increased 4.7 times compared to 2003, and the income of the population increased more than 10 times. Since 2004, more than 52.000 new enterprises and more than 1.8 million new jobs have been created in the regions," he added.