CAIRO: BG Egypt and Cairo University launched the University Linkages Program on Tuesday in collaboration with the British Council, which aims at enhancing the university's Petroleum Geosciences students' skills and increasing their employment opportunities. Minister of Higher Education Hani Helal, Arshad Sufi, president of BG Egypt and Julia Race, deputy director of the British Council attended the event along with students and teachers with the program. Cairo University will start hosting the program, which was originally launched in 2009 to celebrate 20 years of BG's partnership with Egypt and hosted by the British Council. The program offers students training in English language as well as professional skills and aims at addressing “a skills gap in Egypt's geosciences graduates,” a statement by BG read. “The students need to be competitive in the market,” said Sufi, “They need further education to enhance their secondary employability skills, mainly their English language and professional skills.” The program will bring together 350 students between 2009 and 2012. Students present at the event attested to the quality of teaching and the positive effect the program had on their life skills, highlighting the importance of extracurricular activities. The program is in line with the “revolutionary area” of Cairo University, according to Helal, which is trying to match more programs with the market's needs. It will contribute to improving research capacity, with a core of research financed by Cairo University. While initially the BG Egypt University Linkages Program was operating at the British Council, Cairo University was chosen to host it as an “institution of higher learning rich in the students who will become tomorrow's oil and gas professionals,” Sufi said. The program is funded by BG Egypt and implemented by the British Council. “Most of the funds allocated to this project have been invested in the students and the teachers, in skills building, which makes up the core of our program,” he added. According to Thom Reilly from the British Embassy, the launch of this program “embodies the strong partnership between Britain and Egypt; a business partnership, a cultural partnership, an educational partnership and a scientific partnership.” “The graduates of the program will go out into the world and become ambassadors for Cairo University. They will enrich the pool of local resources available to both national and international oil companies, validating BG Egypt's localization strategy, which aims to ensure that the business can be resourced from the local market. […] This, I hope, is just the beginning,” Sufi concluded. BG Egypt has always been involved in investing in development and education. It has a global portfolio of development projects all over the Middle East. They work on a “common belief” to construct a better future, by “empowering youths and enriching the local job market,” Sufi said. “Social investment in education is one of our top priorities. BG Egypt believes that by investing in education, we are empowering youths and enriching the local job market,” he added.
