PASHA Bank and British Council Azerbaijan are pleased to announce the winners of the Aspirational Future Essay Competition 2015 that is being held for the fourth time among the students of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan UK Alumni Association (AUKAA) supports the competition. The aim of the project is to engage students to think around the actual topics in the field of economics in order to encourage them to become more active agents for the future development of the country. The winners of the competition get a chance to attend summer school at Kings College London.
As a part of the Essay Competition, the panel of judges comprised of PASHA Bank and British Council representatives evaluated essay submissions from the students representing various universities of Azerbaijan. The majority of applicants attended training sessions on essay writing skills conducted by the members of AUKAA before the essays submission. The essays covering various economics related topics reflected diversity of thoughts and original ideas about future development of the country. The great effort and responsibility shown by the candidates resulted in the quality increase of essays which made the programme even more competitive.
According to the Country Director of the British Council, Elizabeth White: "This is the fifth year of our partnership between the British Council and PASHA Bank, and the commitment and quality of the entrants, year after year, continues to impress. This competition offers a great opportunity to young Azerbaijani students to extend the reach of their abilities and to take part in an intensive course of study at one of the UK's top universities. I wish the competitors well, and I will watch with hope to see what the future holds for these bright young ambassadors for the next generation of Azerbaijan's economists".
According to the Head of PASHA Bank's Corporate Communications Department, Sona Abbasova: "Pursuing Bank's CSR mandate of Fostering Economic Development and Investing into Human capital and Financial Education, this is the fifth year we are conducting this impactful project with our long term partner, British Council and plan to continue this initiative in the years to come".
In general, the competition was comprised of four stages: application process, essay evaluation followed by two interviews. The panel of judges in the final interviews for ten candidates was comprised of representatives of PASHA Bank and British Council Azerbaijan. The winners received full-scholarship to study summer school courses in Business and Management at King's College London. The successful winners are:
1. Aladdin Ismayilov - ADA University
2. Javid Dadashov - Azerbaijan State University of Economics
3. Lala Gulamova - ADA University
All finalists who made it to the final interviews will receive presents from PASHA Bank. They will also be presented with certificates for the successful participation in the competition from British Council Azerbaijan and PASHA Bank.