BP and its co-venturers in the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG), Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC), Shah Deniz (SD), and South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) will contribute one million dollars to establish a new School of Project Management (SPM) in Azerbaijan.
The project is designed for the private and public sectors providing access to a globally-recognized, comprehensive project management programme. It will focus on simultaneous goals of improving immediate project management performance and establishing long term project management capability in the country.
The curriculum of the school leads to two globally-recognized certifications: the "Masters Certificate in Project Management", awarded by the George Washington University (GWU), and the "PM Professional" certificate, awarded by the Project Management Institute (PMI).
The programme will consist of seven modules - Managing Projects, Project Leadership, Management and Communication, Risk Management, Scheduling and Cost Control, Quality for Project Managers, Project Management Applications, and Project Management Professional (PMP) Exam Preparation.
In addition, the aim of the project is also to increase capacity of the local training institution, and therefore while initially the language of the course will be English, in 2-3 years time local professionals will be trained to deliver the programme in the Azerbaijani language.
The project will be implemented by ESI International - a leading project management training and solutions company, in collaboration with Khazar University.
Seymour Khalilov, C&EA and Security Vice-President of BP Azerbaijan, says: “Since the first day of our presence in Azerbaijan BP and its co-venturers have demonstrated firm commitment to helping the country in its capacity-building efforts. We have implemented hundreds of major capacity-building projects to support enterprise development so that to increase participation of local companies in our business activities and have cooperated with tens of local educational and scientific institutions including the Academy of Sciences, universities and colleges to help develop the country’s scientific and educational potential. We remain committed to Azerbaijan’s successful future and as part of this commitment we are here today together with our co-venturers to support yet another very important educational initiative. I am very much pleased that through this programme we will be able to help more than 120 mid-level and senior managers from all spheres of economy in developing their project management skills and knowledge.”
“BP and its co-venturers in Azerbaijan are very focused on developing national talent. Some 88% of our professional BP staff and 100% of our non-professional staff are Azerbaijani citizens. We have a range of training initiatives for our employees, including opportunities to study for international qualifications. I'm pleased that now, with the School of Project Management, we are taking another step to offer development opportunities for professionals in Azerbaijan” says Sue Adlam-Hill, HR Vice-President.
Tamam Bayatly at BP’s Press Office in Baku, telephone: +994 12 599 4557