Even today, 15 years after Azerbaijan gained its independence, the analysis, forecasting, and monitoring of macroeconomic trends in the country are still insufficient, and there is an urgent need to develop human resources in this field.
This project enables experts of the Center for Economic and Business Research and Education (CEBRE) at Khazar University to build macroeconomic forecasting models under the guidance of experts from East Asian countries like Malaysia and South Korea. This year, CEBRE experts concentrated on calculation of short-term economic forecasts and research in preparation for the construction of a medium-term forecast model next year. To make short-term forecasts of economic trends in Azerbaijan, the business sentiment index and consumer sentiment index were calculated every six months, based on opinion surveys of 200 business organizations and 800 households. In July 2006, three CEBRE researchers visited the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research, where they obtained advice and guidance regarding further research and the construction of the medium-term forecasting model. In January 2007, Malaysian experts were invited to Baku to hold a two-day workshop. Then in February, a roundtable was held in Baku to discuss the results of the research, bringing together representatives of academic institutions, nongovernmental organizations and state establishments in Azerbaijan.