Luiss, the leading University from Italian side within the Italy-Azerbaijan University, went to Azerbaijan at ADA University from January 22 to 27, 2023 to define the operations related to the project GMAP Made in Azerbaijan managed by the Luiss Education Funding Office. The Luiss delegation was composed of the administrative staff, GMAP Co-Directors and led by the Deputy Rector for Internationalization, Prof. Raffaele Marchetti.
Throughout, Rector Hafiz Pashayev of ADA University has led discussions on the role of cooperation with Luiss within Italy-Azerbaijan University to connect businesses, industry and regulatory bodies and explore ways to benefit from the know-how of Made in Italy in teaching management and promotion of Made in Azerbaijan.
The Luiss delegation maintained high level discussions with the Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov and Deputy Minister of Economy Samad Bashirli. To better understand lifestyle, uniqueness of local culture and branding potential in crafts, food and tourism, the delegation visited regions outside Baku and participated round table discussion with executives of AzPromo, Kobia and Confederation of Entrepreneurs.
The delegation also met the Ambassador of Italy to Azerbaijan Claudio Taffuri to discuss the framework of the collaboration and perspectives.
Furthermore, on January 25 was launched, within Italy-Azerbaijan University, the GMAP Made in Azerbaijan master degree, an interdisciplinary program that aims to prepare business administrators who have understanding of complex management issues as well as with deep comprehension both of global political and local social-economic picture. An important aspect of this program is also its focus on “Made in Azerbaijan”: drawing from the know-how and excellence of Made in Italy, this program will teach creating, managing, and promoting the brand equity of “Made in Azerbaijan” quality label.
Rector Hafiz Pashayev welcomed the audience giving glimpse back to the history of the initiative and three years of groundwork that led to the launch of the first degree program within Italy-Azerbaijan University. He highlighted that the goal of this initiative is to prepare body of scholars and manpower of competence in the strategic sectors and high-demand areas.
According to Galib Mammad, the head of the Task Force for Italy-Azerbaijan University, the partnership with Luiss will help accelerate the benefits of small and medium businesses as backbone of economy, breed new generation of culture conscious entrepreneurship and brand-conscious managers.
The Deputy Rector of Luiss University Raffaele Marchetti underlined that GMAP is an interdisciplinary program that brings together studies in politology, international relations and business administration and it will aim to prepare professionals who can face complex management issues with deep understanding of global political picture and local social-economic issues.
The launch event was attended by representatives of government and public bodies, associations, organizations, agricultural firms, university representatives and potential candidates.
The multilateral agreement among ADA University with Luiss University, University of Bologna, Politecnico di Milano, Politecnico di Torino and Roma Sapienza were signed on September 1, 2022 during the signing ceremony of Italy-Azerbaijan University that took place within the inauguration of the new building of the embassy and the cultural center of Azerbaijan in Rome.