Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the non-oil sector in Azerbaijan, opportunities and obstacles: The case of the impact of FDIs on small and medium-sized organizations

Companies now have the ability to construct production chains that are geographically distributed around the world as a result of advancements in information and communications technology (ICT), the rise of the Internet, and decreasing costs associated with transporting goods. Imports, exports, foreign direct investment (FDI), movement of business employees, and data transfer are all examples of the several ways that companies participate in global value chains (GVCs) in order to optimize their international business strategies and raise their levels of productivity. The overarching purpose of this study is to evaluate, pinpoint, and investigate the effects that foreign direct investments (FDIs) have on the expansion of small and medium businesses (SMEs) in the country of Azerbaijan. The following set of research questions will serve as the basis for the investigation. 1. What are the most significant effects that activities related to FDI have had on the expansion of SMEs in Azerbaijan? 2. How do the effects of FDI operations influence the expansion of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)? It is envisaged that the findings of the study may be of great significance for both present SMEs company owners as well as the future business owner's understanding on what to do in order to compete with the competitive business environment in which FDI are included. In order to ensure the reliability and validity of the data or information that was gathered from the field, the researcher will employ both primary and secondary techniques of data collecting. The reports produced by the Azerbaijan State Statistical Committee will serve as the primary source of data. The primary variables will be the amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) that was made into SMEs as well as the financial performance metrics of SMEs.