President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the inauguration of “ASAN Life” complex in Tovuz, on March 4, 2020. Within the framework of the visit, he got acquainted with Tovuz ABAD Factory – Processing and Drying of Herbs, ABAD School, and ABAD Centre. Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan - Head of the Department for Work with Law Enforcement Bodies of the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Azerbaijan Fuad Alasgarov, Chairman of the State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan (“ASAN xidmət”) Ulvi Mehdiyev and director of the ABAD Public Legal Entity Rufat Elchiyev delivered the broad information to the Head of the State.

One of the noteworthy points was the innovative Tovuz ABAD Factory for Processing and Drying Herbs. It was reported that the factory was built in 2019 with the support of "Gazakh Cement Plant" LLC and "Fito Life" LLC. The Tovuz ABAD Factory, which is up to date with the state-of-the-art equipment, is designed to bring both social and economic benefits to our country. The territory of the factory is 3000 m2. There is a warehouse for crude material, stock for final products, reservoir, boiler house and laboratory in the factory. The factory will be operating on three production lines:

- washing, sorting, processing, drying and packaging of fruits;

- washing, sorting, processing, drying and packaging of medicinal herbs;

- production of finished tea by grinding of already processed medicinal plants.

The activity of this factory, which meets modern standards and is equipped with facilities that will be applied for the first time in Azerbaijan, will bring social and economic benefits to our country. Thus, the factory plans to produce 80 kinds of competitive, export-oriented products. Depending on the season, the factory will employ about 30-100 local citizens, which in turn will contribute to the increase in the employment rate of the region.

Furthermore, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev familiarized himself with the activities of the Tovuz ABAD Regional Centre and the Tovuz ABAD School - Training Centre.

Tovuz ABAD Centre is the 6th of its kind. The main purpose of this centre just like the others is to provide active participation of citizens in Ganja-Gazakh economic zone in the socio-economic life of our country and to contribute to the formation of competitive family farms, micro and small entrepreneurship.

The two-storey centre has been provided with all the requisite appliances to assure full and convenient access of citizens to services of ABAD.

One of the infrastructural bodies included in the Tovuz ASAN Life complex is ABAD School which is the fourth of its kind. There are classrooms in the area, which have all the necessary amenities for young people in the region to learn sewing, painting, tourism, preparation of musical instruments, and to specialize in information technologies and agro-technical professions.

This should be recalled that “ABAD” (Simplified Support to Family Businesses) public legal entity run by the State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan was established following the Presidential Decree dated 23 September 2016. The main purpose on establishing the organization is to carry out socially-oriented projects aimed at ensuring the active participation of the citizens in the socio-economic life of the Republic of Azerbaijan, developing small and medium entrepreneurship, raising the employment rate of the population and supporting the formation of competitive family businesses in the country. Supporting family businesses operating in the areas of decorative-applied folk crafts and food production are top-priority directions of ABAD public legal entity.