12:28 - 16.03.2023

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March 16, Fineko/abc.az. Approval of the Program of Modernizing Vocational Education & Training for Economic Diversification Sector Development in Azerbaijan is scheduled for the 1st half of 2023, ABC.AZ reports, quoting ADB Country Director in Azerbaijan Candice Mcdeigan.

According to Mcdeigan, in 2022, ADB approved a technical assistance grant in the amount of $750,000 for preparation of a program for modernizing the economic diversification sector development.

"The proposed program is aimed at supporting the Azerbaijani government’s efforts to diversify the economy. This will be achieved by increasing the conformity of vocational education and training to the country's labor market and the 4th Industrial Revolution," she said.

As Mcdeigan explained, the program includes a loan of $120 million and a project loan of $30 million. This will help improve the financing of vocational education and make it more inclusive, improve the quality and relevance, as well as strengthen its institutional framework.

She added that the ADB Board of Directors is expected to endorse the program in the near future.

To date, ADB has allocated 65 loans, grants and technical assistance to Azerbaijan for the public sector for totally $3.7 bn. The total payments to Azerbaijan on loans reach $3.93 bn. They were financed at the expense of regular and preferential ordinary capital resources. ADB's current sovereign portfolio in Azerbaijan includes 2 loans and 1 sovereign guarantee in the amount of $856.8 million.