Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 15
Trend:
SOCAR and BP have signed an agreement on cooperation in a number of spheres on Thursday.
The first document, signed by SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev and BP regional president for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey Gordon Birrell, is a protocol on cooperation in the field of nationalisation.
The second document is a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the field of training at the Gobustan regional training centre.
The third document is a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the field of education at the Baku oil school. The document was signed by Birrell and Rector of the school Elmar Gasimov.
After the signing ceremony Birrell said BP is committed to the development of Azerbaijani highly qualified specialists.
According to Birrell, around 84 per cent of all employees fall to local specialists in BP. This figure is planned to be increased to 90 per cent within the nationalisation plan from 2014 to 2018.
According to Abdullayev, the country is currently facing a staff shortage due to the implementation of many projects. In this regard, great attention has been paid to professional personnel training since 2005. More than 300 Azerbaijani students who are now working in the country have attended 20 world universities since 2005.
"Moreover, a scholarship programme which brings together 1500 students, is being implemented in the country," Abdullayev said. "Some 150 people are currently working at SOCAR."
"Our goal is to solve the problem of a staff shortage and to minimise the involvement of foreign personnel," Abdullayev added.