Business owners from Balaken, Azerbaijan, discover secrets to making a premium product – with help from the EU4Business. In business, growing or making a product is only half the battle.

EU-supported project helping Azerbaijani SMES in Guba-Khachmaz agricultural economic region put down roots. Azerbaijan’s Guba-Khachmaz economic region has the potential to be an agricultural powerhouse. According to the country’s State Statistics Committee, agriculture in the area is particularly geared toward vegetable and fruit production.

Education is in demand by everyone, everywhere. So there are opportunities to open educational businesses even in rural areas, as Vusala Ahmadova, an entrepreneur from Azerbaijani city of Tovuz, knows firsthand.

To say that Azerbaijan has a long history of winemaking is an understatement: Archaeological evidence indicates that wine has been produced in the lands that make up the modern state for around 3,000 years, and the Ancient Greek geographer and historian Herodotus noted as early as the 7th century B.C. that the area was known for its wines.

SMEs in Azerbaijan are an important source of employment, but their full potential remains untapped. In 2020, Azerbaijan’s SMEs generated 42% of total employment but contributed to only 17% of value added (24% in the non-oil sector).