The Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan is the central executive authority responsible for formulating and implementing state policy in the areas of economic development, preparation of macroeconomic forecasts, creating a favorable environment for ensuring economic growth and sustainable development, promoting investment activity, fostering entrepreneurship and industrial development, regulating the licensing and permitting system, as well as organizing and conducting lotteries and sports betting, preventing monopolistic activities, eliminating unfair competition, protecting consumer rights, procuring goods (works and services) financed from public funds, ensuring the timely and complete collection of taxes and other mandatory payments assigned to its competence by law or Presidential acts, managing state property, overseeing its privatization, organizing state administration of land, and maintaining the state register and unified state cadastre of real estate.

From 1918 to 1920, the first Ministry of Trade and Industry of independent Azerbaijan operated within the government of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. During 1920-1991, when Azerbaijan was part of the USSR, economic matters were regulated by bodies such as the Commissariat of Trade, Industry and Food, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and the State Planning Committee of the Azerbaijan SSR. By Presidential Decree dated 30 April 2001, the State Property Ministry, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Trade, the State Committee for Anti-Monopoly Policy and Assistance to Entrepreneurship, and the Foreign Investment Agency were abolished and, on their basis, the Ministry of Economic Development was established.

By Presidential Order dated 22 October 2013, the Ministry of Economic Development was reorganized into the Ministry of Economy and Industry of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Subsequently, by Presidential Order dated 15 January 2016, the Ministry of Economy and Industry was reorganized into the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

On 30 December 2019, a Presidential Decree approved the “Charter of the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan.” In accordance with the Charter, the main areas of activity of the Ministry include:

• ●  Economic policy and strategy - participating in the preparation and implementation of the country’s socio-economic development strategy, and developing proposals for sustainable and inclusive economic growth;
• ●  Macroeconomic management - contributing to the formulation of state policy in public finance, taxation, monetary-credit, currency, banking, insurance, securities, pricing and tariffs, and economic security;
• ●  Socio-economic planning - preparing concepts, state programs, and forecasts, as well as overseeing their implementation and evaluation;
• ●  Economic security - preparing and implementing measures to protect economic interests and ensure sustainable growth;
• ●  Transparency and business climate - improving transparency and creating a favorable business environment;
• ●  Export and industry - promoting national economy and export diversification, and developing and implementing industrial policy;
• ●  Investments - attracting, protecting, and promoting investments, and contributing to relevant state policy;
• ●  Entrepreneurship and PPP - developing entrepreneurship, public-private partnerships, and regulating the licensing and permitting system;
• ●  Human capital - preparing and implementing long-term human capital development programs;
• ●  Competition policy - ensuring free competition, preventing monopolistic activities, and eliminating unfair competition;
• ●  Foreign economic relations - developing and implementing state policy in foreign trade and international economic cooperation;
• ●  Regional development - contributing to the formulation and implementation of state policy for the socio-economic development of regions;
• ●  Taxes and mandatory payments - overseeing the collection of taxes and other mandatory payments to the state budget;
• ●  State assets and privatization - managing state property, overseeing its privatization, and improving the structure of state ownership;
• ●  Consumer rights - protecting consumer rights and ensuring compliance with quality standards for goods, works, and services;
• ●  Public procurement - developing policy for the procurement of goods, works, and services financed from public funds;
• ●  Advertising supervision - exercising state control over advertising, except for outdoor advertising;
• ●  Standardization and quality - developing and implementing policy in metrology, technical regulation, accreditation, and quality management;
• ●  Lotteries and sports betting - regulating these activities within the framework of the law;
• ●  Normative drafting - preparing normative legal acts in relevant areas.