Development Project
management

ASR Development and Consulting Group acted as a subcontractor to Sibley International LLC, which implemented the USAID Azerbaijan Competitiveness and Trade (ACT) Project. The project aimed to improve the general legal and regulatory environment for business, create a more open and transparent trade environment, and strengthen value chains in Azerbaijan. The company ensured and supervised the performance of local policy experts within the project framework.

Our local team managed all WTO accession-related assistance of the ACT Project. This included organizing bilateral and multilateral meetings, monitoring comments on draft laws, responding to WTO members' questions, collecting statistics, evaluating the impact of trade reforms, preparing policy documents, and supporting negotiations related to the agricultural sector.

As a result of the local team's intensive support, more than 60 legislative acts were prepared in trade-related areas, and 20 of them were adopted in line with WTO requirements and international practices.

Several institutional reforms proposed by the project were successfully implemented by the government. All these outcomes made a significant contribution to improving the business and trade environment, reducing administrative barriers, and facilitating access of local producers to international markets.

Based on the memorandum of understanding, ASR Development and Consulting Group conducted sequential surveys over 3 years with regional farmers benefiting from the Azerbaijan competitiveness and trade (ACT) project. The primary purpose of the monitoring was to measure progress at farms operating in dairy, aquaculture, and pomegranate sectors in the central, southern, and northern regions, and evaluate the effectiveness of the ACT project.

The research timeline was successfully executed in phases:

• Year 1 (September–October 2011): Initial survey conducted among 250 farmers.
• Year 2 (July–November 2012): Regional coverage was expanded and 405 farmers were surveyed.
• Year 3 (June–July 2013): Final evaluation conducted again among 405 farmers in the last phase.

Our company's professional project team precisely monitored how farmers applied the innovative farm development practices they learned in training to real work environments. Important analytical reviews were conducted based on empirical data collected through surveys.

This activity created a strategic reporting base that transparently measured the real economic impact and effectiveness of the ACT project on regional businesses, particularly in terms of increasing production volume, raising sales turnover, and growing net profit.

ASR Consulting and Research Group carried out an important research project within the program funded by JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) and Tokyo Engineering Consultants Co. (TEC) Ltd. The research was implemented within the "State Program on Water Supply and Sewerage Project for Provincial Towns."

The main purpose of the survey was to determine the current market prices and productivity of land plots to be used for water and sewerage pipeline construction. Within the project framework, detailed data was collected on the quality and prices of land in more than 10 villages across 6 different districts of Azerbaijan, as well as on perennial plants and trees located in these areas, and a comprehensive report was prepared. For this purpose, our research team held numerous official and practical meetings with various local government bodies, municipalities, state notaries, and landowning farmers.

The planned key strategic benefit of these activities and large-scale field research was to ensure transparency and fairness during infrastructure construction.

Thanks to the precise data collected, an irreplaceable legal and economic basis was established for fully accurate, fair, and real market value-based calculation of compensation amounts to be paid by the Azerbaijani government to local landowners and farmers whose properties were used for water and sewerage pipeline construction.

The main objective of the Income-Generating Project (IGP) program was to address priority issues directly affecting the quality of life of internally displaced persons (IDPs), develop their community organization skills, and empower IDP communities to create sustainable employment and entrepreneurship opportunities.

Acting as a subcontractor to the Community Development Center, ASR Development and Consulting Group implemented business capacity strengthening activities in line with these objectives to enable displaced communities to operate effectively in the current market and economic environment.

Our company's professional experts taught participants the principles of business management in agricultural and non-agricultural areas. The training program covered fundamental topics such as recordkeeping, gross profit analysis, budgeting, investment and risk analysis, business plan preparation, legal establishment of LLCs, tax regulations, credit lines, and analysis of modern market chains.

The intensive technical, advisory, and financial support provided within the project framework led to very significant socio-economic revitalization in the regions.