July 13, 2007

New Project Won–Azerbaijan: Enterprise Development and Training Program

ACDI/VOCA has been awarded a multimillion dollar contract to implement the three-year Enterprise Development and Training Program (EDTP) being funded by BP and its co-venturers in Azerbaijan through their Regional Development Initiative (RDI).

The EDTP will be involved in the identification of potential local suppliers, introductory workshops for local companies, gap analysis for potential suppliers and, where appropriate, the creation and implementation of a tailored development plan.

"This project is clear evidence of the opportunities increasingly opening up to ACDI/VOCA to collaborate with socially conscious private sector firms, in particular major multinationals such as BP, who have a stake in and commitment to the development of the countries in which they work. In my view this is an exciting opportunity for ACDI/VOCA, for BP and for the people of Azerbaijan," said William T. Irelan, ACDI/VOCA's general counsel who finalized the agreement with BP in Baku.

ACDI/VOCA will establish a new private company called Solutions, LLC, to provide financial training and business advisory services in cooperation with other local business service providers. The company will be commercially viable by project’s end.

“The program should help local firms to assess their current competitive capabilities and standards and determine how they need to develop,” BP Enterprise Center Manager Samir Taghiyev said. “It should also help local companies to evaluate the financial commitment required to reach these standards.”

ACDI/VOCA will emphasize Solutions’ sustainability at project start-up by:

• empowering Azeri staff to ensure effective management
• working with private firms that have the capacity and commitment to make permanent changes enabling them to successfully bid on international and BP tenders
• providing short-term, high-quality technical assistance and business development services on a cost-recovery basis

In Azerbaijan ACDI/VOCA also implements the SME Support through the Financial Sector Development Project and the Farmer-to-Farmer Program, and continues to support the activities of CredAgro, an Azeri rural finance institution founded by ACDI/VOCA in 2000.

To read BP’s press release, please click here.