Jeddah, Baku, Ankara, Almaty, Bishkek, Dushanbe, 10 November 2021 - The first of a series of webinars on “Digital Development and E-Governance” was organized by the Islamic Development Bank's Regional Cooperation and Integration (RCI) Department along with Regional Hubs of Ankara and Almaty, in close partnership with the State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations (SAPSSI) under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the CAREC Institute.

The knowledge-sharing event, held on 10^th November 2021, was attended by more than 330 participants including government officials in Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, partner institutions and the IsDB Group staff.

While opening the Webinar, IsDB Acting COO, Mr. Anasse Aissami, remarked that to tap full benefits of the digitization of services, countries need to not only make the necessary infrastructure investments but also initiate institutional reforms, update legislation, and conduct capacity building and awareness raising activities, of which this webinar is a critical component.  Hon. Tamerlan Tagiyev, Executive Director for Azerbaijan, speaking on the occasion, reiterated his desire for more south-south cooperation to enable member countries to benefit from each other’s experience.

SAPSSI presented its award-winning ASAN Xidmat (service) model, which is a platform that brings together 12 government institutions and 30 private companies under one umbrella to provide 434 e-government services to citizens, businesses and other public entities (G2C, G2B and G2G) in Azerbaijan. Special emphasis was made on mechanisms ensuring proactive approach to public service delivery, introducing innovative e-governance solutions, quality control mechanisms and human resource management.

SAPSSI also shared the business model and services provided by ABAD, an organization that provides end-to-end technical and financial services for the establishment of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to citizens, thereby helping them boost their incomes and improve their economic well-being.

ADB and CAREC institute presented evidence and insights regarding the state of digitalization and provision of e-government services to citizens in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region, where the Bank serves a number of member countries.

Samir Taghiyev, Head for CIS and Europe, Resource Mobilization and Partnership Development at ICD highlighted the various financial mechanisms to support digitalization and SME development. IsDB also underscored the importance of digitalization for the advancement of the Member Countries and reiterated the commitment of the Bank to support the countries in the region and beyond to help them build the necessary infrastructure and obtain the needed capacities and capabilities needed to facilitate higher rates of digitalization, connectivity and e-governance.

A follow-up technical event is being planned on Wednesday, 17^th November 2021 to dive deeper into the topics of digitalization and e-governance with representatives of Kyrgyz Republic as well as Republic of Tajikistan. The follow-up event will provide an opportunity to understand the needs of the two MCs to explore the potential of developing appropriate Reverse Linkage projects, which can be used to develop capacity in the region by benefiting from the expertise of the Republic of Azerbaijan.