BP and its co-venturers in the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG), Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC), Shah Deniz (SD), and South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) today launched a major sustainable development initiative in support of the communities neighbouring BTC/SCP pipelines. The project is designed to provide sustainable income generation and capacity- building opportunities for community members involved in the agricultural sector.
The programme scope includes construction of 132 greenhouses, a community bakery and 96 bee keeping set-ups and equipment in addition to transference of skills and knowledge required to sustainably manage these businesses and facilities. The project is also expected to open up additional markets, create new job opportunities and strengthen self help possibilities, increase business technical capacity among targeted beneficiaries, provide benefits to the environment including support for biodiversity, provide opportunities to reuse the project components by others within the same communities as well as other communities.
The project will be implemented by Ganja Agribusiness Association (GABA) - a local non-governmental organisation, in collaboration with the Azerbaijan State Agricultural University located in Ganja. BP and co-ventures’ contribution to the project is up to $800,000 while the communities themselves will contribute about $230,000 and GABA about $14,000.
The Azerbaijan State Agricultural University will join efforts related to the training component of the project. The University specialists will be involved in the implementation of greenhouse and bee keeping trainings. The duration of the project is two years (November 2011 – November 2013).
Seymour Khalilov, Vice-President of BP says: “BP and its co-venturers have firm commitment to working closely with all of our neighbouring communities to help them create development opportunities and obtain skills and knowledge that will ensure that these opportunities are sustainable. The initiative that we are launching today combines both parts of our commitment. It aims to provide significant agricultural business opportunities that we hope will generate tangible benefits and transfer skills and knowledge that are crucial to making these businesses sustainable. I would like to thank our implementing partners GABA and their partner in this project the Azerbaijan State Agricultural University for cooperation in this very important initiative”.
Notes to Editors:
Success of our projects in the Caspian in part depends on our ability to create tangible benefits from our presence for the people of the countries where we operate. To achieve this, we continue to carry out major sustainable development initiatives which include educational programmes, building skills and capabilities in local communities, improving access to social infrastructure in communities, supporting local enterprises through provision of access to finance and training, as well as technical assistance to public institutions.
During the first nine months of 2011, BP and co-venturers spent about $3 million in Azerbaijan alone on sustainable development projects.
BP and its co-venturers will continue their sustainable development initiatives to support local enterprise development and capacity building in Azerbaijan to assist the country in strengthening its economy.
BP Press Office, Baku: +994 12 599 45 57