Economic Research Center

1. Economic Research Center Annual Report 2007 Baki, Caspian Plaza, February 21, 2008

2. Structure • Programs • Resources • Products • Donors and Partners • Finance • Achievements • Challenges

3. Our Mission Assistance to sustainable economic development and good governance

4. Strategic Goals • Popularization of economic and business knowledge in society. • Increasing of transparency and accountability of public resources. • Increasing of public participation level in decision making process related to public resources and achievement of social dialogue

5. Programs • «Budget Transparency and Budget Control» • «Strengthening the role of municipalities in local self-governance and poverty reduction» • «Assistance to Economic Education» • «Assistance to acceleration of Azerbaijani membership to WTO» • Participation program in the works of EITI NGO Coalition. • These programs have been implemented during 2004-2006

6. Programs • «Alternative Inflation Methodology Development» • «Assessment of factors that affect implementation and targeting accuracy of needs-tested benefits in Azerbaijan» • «Budget transparency in municipalities and public participation in public decision making process» проgram • «Monitoring of primary health financing programs and advocacy» The implementation of these programs have begun since 2006 and are being continued currently.

7. Management Structure

8. Policy and Rules • Accounting Policy • Rules on Public Relations • Quality Control Standards • Rules on Human Resources • Rules on External Relations

9. Reach Area

10. ERC has held 17 conferences and presentations, 7 seminars and trainings (3 of them in Baku, 4 in regions-Ganja, Khachmaz, Gakh, Lenkoran), public hearings in 59 municipalities during 2007. ERC has presented 12 talk-shows. 6 of them have been presented in capital TV channels (ANS, Public TV), the other 6 have been presented in regional TV channels. 3 radio-debates have been organized. Public Discussions

11. Economic Research Center Recommendations

12. With the help of municipality tax calculator each person could calculate local taxes as land and property taxes, field taxes of local importance on construction materials paid to municipality budgets. Municipality Tax Calculator

13. It is possible to calculate Consumption Price Index with the inflation calculator individually. List of goods and comparison period are chosen for it. The result shows inflation rate of goods used at the chosen period. Inflation Calculator

14. Transparent Budget Products of ERC the Transparent budget Program is implemented with the purpose for automation of local tax payers’ accounts in municipalities.

15. Internet Resources

16. Internet Resources

17. Information Newsletter

18. Economic Research Center Publications – Magazine “Expert”

19. Partners

20. Participation in International Events • Conference on the topic “Local governance and social responsibility in Central and Eastern European Countries”, March 27-29, Sarajevo, Bosnia/Herzegovina • Learning tour on “Health Funding”, May 16-June 06, Cleveland, Ohio, USA • Seminar on the topic “Construction of the Bridge Between Knowledge and Power”, May 17-18, Budapest, Hungary • Conference on “Management and Distribution of Knowledge”, June 03-08, Tokyo, Japan • Seminar on “Transparency Initiative in Extractive Industry”, June 13-15, Djakarta, Indonesia • Regional Conference on “Modernization of State Building in Central Asia and Southern Caucasus” June 27-28, Urumchi, China • Annual Conference of PASOS, November 01-03, Berlin, Germany • XIII Issik-Kul Forum, November 05-06, Goa, India

21. Trainings • 3 days training-seminar on the topic “Preparation of Effective Policy Analysis Document” organized by Civil Society project of USAID, March 15-17 • Training on “Public Participation”, organized by Civil Society project of USAID, July16-20 • Training on accounting organized by Azerbaijan micro-finance Association, July 25-26 • Training on human Resources organized by Azerbaijan micro-finance Association, November 28-30

22. Donors

23. Funding Sources (%)

24. Economic Research Center Funding Sources of ERC in 2007 (%)

25. Money turnover of ERC during 2003-2007 Economic Research Center

26. Achievements • Footholds based on center’s researches have increased. (for example: The Economist, Financial Times, CNN Turk, AlJazeera və s.) • External Relations have been broadened. (PWYP, IBP, ENTO, PASOS, Chatam House, WTTN and etc.) • Influence opportunities to decision-making process have increased. • Public Relations have been developed.

27. Challenges • Limitation of participation in state programs • Weakness of partnership opportunities with private sector • Existence of problems in development of Civil Society • Lack of human and financial resources

28. Future plans 1.RMSM-X+P – the impact of macroeconomic shocks on poverty; 2.Modelling inflation; 3.Permanent Oil Income Model.

29. Thank you for attention Baku, Azerbaijan AZ1065Djafar Djabbarli 44, Caspian Plaza 3, floor 9Telephone: (+99412) 437 32 30Fax: (+99412) 437 32 40web-site: www.erc-az.orge-mail: office@erc-az.org,erc-az@azeurotel.com