SOCAR, BP sign cooperation agreement in some spheres

Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 15 Trend: SOCAR and BP 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 nationalization. The second document is a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the field of training in the Gobustan regional training center. 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 that BP is committed to the development of Azerbaijani highly qualified specialists. According to Birrell, around 84 per cent fall to the local specialists in BP. This figure is planned to be increased up to 90 per cent within the nationalization plan from 2014 to 2018. According to Abdullayev, the country is currently facing a shortage of staff due to the implementation of many projects. In this regard, great attention has been paid to the professional personnel training since 2005. More than 300 Azerbaijani students who are now working in the country have got education at 20 world universities since 2005. "Moreover, a scholarship program, which brings together 1,500 students, is being implemented in the country," Abdullayev said. "Some 150 people are currently working in SOCAR." "Our goal is to solve the problem with shortage of staff and to minimize the involvement of foreign personnel," Abdullayev added.