On August 30, the State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture held a press tour for media representatives to demonstrate them the "one-window" electronic system. During press tour arranged within implementation and communication plan for the second half of 2019 related to reforms of permissions for construction and commissioning of certain facilities that are conducted by the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan to improve business environment and international rankings of the country, the media representatives witnessed routine operation of the electronic system designed for construction and commissioning permissions for facilities that do not require examination. 

This electronic applications system is implemented by the State Urban Planning and Architecture Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan together with the State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations in accordance with the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated December 28, 2018 "On the simplified construction and commissioning permissions for the certain facilities".

Launched on February 21, 2019, the system is designed to minimize government-to-business communication and create favorable business environment, avoid time loss and increase citizens satisfaction with public services through faster and more transparent implementation.

The client of the construction will have an opportunity to obtain an electronic permission for the construction and operation of the facilities through the electronic applications system which currently covers Baku and includes buildings that do not require examination in accordance with the Civil Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Thus, the client can log in onto the personal cabinet in the specified system and download necessary documents and obtain construction permission within 15 business days and an operation permission within 10-day period.

So far, the system has received 42 applications for construction and operation of buildings that do not require examination, 25 of which have received positive response. In this list, 21 of the 38 applications for construction permissions and 4 permissions for operation received positive responses with the electronic permission form sent to the client's personal cabinet.

The participants of the press tour were informed that according to the decree of the head of state, the system can now obtain permissions only for projects of various parameters for construction and warehouse buildings, which do not require examination as prescribed in Article 89 of the Urban Planning and Construction Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan. At the same time, the State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture has set the objective to shortly expand scope of the electronic system that operates under the "one window" principle to include construction and operation permissions for facilities that require examination. At the same time, the system's coverage will expand and cover not only Baku but also other cities of the country. Currently, relevant measures are taken in cooperation with the respective local authorities.

As a result of the policy implemented by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, conditions for the entrepreneurship development in the country and ongoing reforms in this area yield positive outcomes. In this regard, better business environment in the construction planning and organization and increased efficiency, accountability and transparency through reduced human factor role in government-to-business relations are among the top priorities of the State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture. Successful implementation of government policy in this area, ensured transparency and established sound business environment are highly appreciated by international organizations which is evident in the country’s 61 rank on the "Permissions for Construction" Index of the World Bank's Doing Business report 2019.

After an operator demonstrated real-time work of the one-window system and a video reel about electronic system procedures was shown, the journalists’ questions on the subject were answered.