Azerbaijan Small Business Development Project Launched
In Baku
Farzin Mirmotahari
Phone: +994 12 92 19 41
Email: fmirmotahari@ifc.org
Baku, Azerbaijan. December 15. 2004—The
Azerbaijan Bank Training Centre (ABTC) has launched a new project
to provide technical assistance in the development of small business services
in Azerbaijan.
Co-funded by IFC, BP Exploration Ltd., and ABTC, the project’s goal is
to build new training and consulting capacity within the ABTC that will
provide high-quality and affordable services to the small business sector
on a commercially sustainable basis. Demand for the first courses offered
has been much higher than expected.
The project is part of a larger Joint IFC-BP SME Linkage Program to create
greater opportunities for local small businesses as part of its financing
of the $2.4 billion Azeri-Chirag-Deepwater Phase I oil field, a large-scale
reserve in the Caspian Sea off Azerbaijan, and the related Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
pipeline that will carry its oil through Azerbaijan and Georgia to the
Mediterranean coast off Turkey.
Specifically, the project targets the owners and managers of small
and medium businesses in Azerbaijan interested in obtaining training and
consulting services for themselves or for their employees on a fee-for-service
basis.
Key objectives include:
§ Development
of 35 practical, high-quality small business management training courses
in high-demand topics adapted to local conditions
§ Recruitment
and training of at least 25 local trainers, capable of independently delivering
the courses and eventually providing to small business owners consulting
services
§ Delivery
of training courses to about 900 participants on a direct-cost recovery
basis over the term of the project.
The project will create a pool of local professionals who will initially
receive support from foreign trainers. In time the local professionals’
role will be expanded, allowing them to provide the services independently
based on the training they receive.
“Larger companies have substantial resources with which to access external
support and services, small businesses most often do not, and as such face
serious obstacles in improving productivity and growth,” said Laurence
Carter, director of the Small and Medium Enterprise Department. “This
project is part of IFC’s global effort to develop local, affordable, and
high-quality business services for small and medium enterprises.”
“IFC looks forward to the development of this project and the provision
of new services for the Azeri business community,” added Shahbaz Mavaddat,
associate Director of IFC’s Southern Europe and Central Asia Department.
“It is our expectation that by operating on a commercially viable basis,
the project will have a real effect on the development of small business
in the country.”
Martin Miles, BP’s Sustainable Development Director, said: “As the operator
of world-class projects, which have the potential to improve economic conditions
in Azerbaijan and the entire region, BP welcomes this partnership aimed
at increasing the training and consulting capacity of local small businesses
in order to help them move further toward international business practices
and standards. The project is a joint effort to support these businesses
in their attempt to understand and learn what the private business needs
to accomplish to be successful in this developing business climate and
to ensure long-term sustainable growth opportunities for themselves and
for the country. We are pleased to be able to combine our efforts with
those of IFC and ABTC to this end.”
Javanshir Abdullayev, Director of ABTC, spoke of the opportunities created
by the project: “The ABTC, which is well known in the Azeri market,
is now offering services both to the banking and to the SME sectors. This
will give both sides an opportunity to ‘speak the same language,’ to
strengthen their business relationships, which in turn will result in the
future economic development and the creation of new jobs.”
The total project cost is $677,000, of which IFC’s Capacity Building Facility
is providing $270,450 and BP is contributing $267,300. The reminder
comes from ABTC’s in-kind contribution and anticipated revenues from the
project. It is expected that ABTC’s new SME Services Division will be
profitable in its third year.
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