BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17
By Fidan Babayeva - Trend:
Director of Azerbaijan’s AQS Group consulting company Azer Tagiyev in an interview with Trend spoke about the current activities of the company and upcoming tasks for 2020.
Are you planning to expand the scope of services, and how do you see the AQS Group in 2020 and in the future?
Of course, we are planning to expand the scope of our services, but it depends not only on us, but also on the requirements of the business. Our main task is to inform our local companies about the benefits of introducing management systems, because it often helps them to improve their competitiveness, systematize the activities and management of the company and gain the opportunity to enter international markets.
At the moment, we are actively engaged in projects in the Azerbaijani districts. These are mainly producers of rice, wine, persimmons, honey, etc. In this way, we contribute to the development of the country’s agricultural potential and the subsequent release of these products to international markets.
The future of our company is not only our success, but also the success of our customers. We are ready to meet modern requirements, introduce new opportunities into the sphere to achieve our goals.
Tell us about the innovations that you are trying to introduce in order to improve performance.
The consulting sector is developing every year, it is necessary to constantly maintain the level and be aware of changes in the field of standardization and certification. We all heard the phrase “meet international standards,” but few people realize how laborious and complicated this process is.
Our company for the first time in Azerbaijan participated in the implementation and assisted in certification of a number of new standards, such as ISO 39001 Road Traffic Safety Management System, ISO 45001, a new version of the international standard for occupational health and safety OHSAS, updated versions of ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 22000.
Also, once a year we aim to hold international seminars and conferences with the participation of international experts for representatives of local companies. The latest of them was held in December last year and invited Charles Corrie, the secretary of several technical committees of ISO (International Organization for Standardization) and part-time head of the BSI department.
What foreign organizations and government agencies do you work with today?
Today, the total number of our customers is above 50. Among them are institutions such as Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR, Sumgayit Technology Park, Central Bank of Azerbaijan, Temiz Shahar OJSC, State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan, AzEduNet, Shirvan Wines, Ismayilli Sharab, Razi Rice, Balxurma, SMTS, Azercell, Bina-Agro and others. We also work closely with foreign companies: TUV SUD China, QSA Italy, GA Manual and others. Our company is also a member of the ACP program and a partner of the British Standards Institution (BSI) in Azerbaijan.
What is the main mission of your company, and how do you evaluate its activities?
AQS Group is a growing and relevant company operating in the field of consulting in international standards and certification of management systems. We also support our foreign partners in exporting products to Azerbaijan, and at the same time help our local producers in import-export operations with countries in Europe, the CIS and the US.
Our values can definitely be considered the fact that we act honestly and respectfully, and most importantly, the staff of our company has high professionalism in the field of standardization and certification. The main mission of the company is, of course, to assist local businesses in the growth and achievement of competitiveness, as well as solving problems in enterprises by introducing advanced world standards and practices, as well as conducting relevant training courses. Our innovative, creative and visionary professionals ensure that we provide an exclusive approach to each client, depending on his or her needs and specific requirements.
What is your rating among other consulting companies?
We are leaders in our sector of activity. Our company is the only one accepted in accordance with the required criteria of the British Standards Institution (BSI) associative advisory program and certified in accordance with the ISO 10019: 2007 guidelines for the selection of quality management system consultants and use of their services. Our difference is that, over the entire period of our existence, not a single company has failed an international certification audit after our system implementation process.