The Azerbaijan Land Transport Agency (AYNA) under the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport has set a goal to train 5,000 new drivers in the field of road freight transport and ensure their participation in the international market.
Modern.az reports that this was stated at a meeting held at AYNA with national carriers engaged in international road freight transport activities.
According to the information, an exchange of views was held regarding the tasks ahead in the field of road freight transport in Azerbaijan, the difficulties faced by national carriers, and their solutions. Currently, the biggest difficulty faced by national carriers is related to personnel shortages. Primarily, there is a need for professional drivers in international freight transport and for masters in technical maintenance and repair of freight vehicles. It was noted that such factors are important in increasing the market share of national carriers in international freight transport.
Considering the aforementioned difficulties, AYNA is launching a new project to support national carriers. Within the framework of the project, training courses are organized for the preparation of C and CE category drivers in the field of international freight transport. Although the training fee is 266 manats, more than 80% of the amount will be covered by AYNA. Drivers will be able to participate in the training by paying only 50 manats. Ultimately, based on the assessment to be conducted by the State Examination Center, drivers will be presented with a certificate valid for 7 years, allowing them to operate in the field of international freight transport. Conditions will also be created for connecting drivers with carriers to ensure their future employment. The goal is to train 5,000 new drivers and ensure their participation in the international market.
Within the framework of the project, other measures are also envisaged to increase the market share of national carriers in international freight transport and create new job opportunities.
It was stated that over the past years, opportunities have been created to ensure a transparent environment in the field of road freight transport and for carriers to operate efficiently. Regulation and control functions have been performed to ensure high service standards in both domestic and international freight transport.
As a result of the measures taken, the number of freight vehicles has increased from 3,400 to 14,193, an abundance of "Permit" forms (especially "special deficit") has been created, the services provided have been digitized, and our market share in the bilateral freight transport market has increased from 39% to over 50%. Thus, international road freight transport has created significant employment opportunities. It was emphasized that since the average number of employees per industrial enterprise is 46, the employment opportunity created by the 14,193 freight vehicles operated in international freight transport can be considered equivalent to approximately 310 industrial enterprises. It should also be noted that this refers to entrepreneurship that exports services, i.e., ensures the inflow of foreign currency into the country.
