Peruvian and Azerbaijani MBAs at MSM for Maastricht attachment
The Maastricht School of Management has been even more crowded with students than usual over the past few weeks. Thirty-one students from the Executive MBA program in Energy Management, offered together with ADA University in Azerbaijan, and 33 students from the International MBA program, set up in collaboration with CENTRUM Católica Business School in Peru came to Maastricht for their European study attachment during which they followed courses, took exams and conducted work visits.
These European study attachments are part of the MBA programs that MsM offers around the world in collaboration with partner institutes in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.
The Azerbaijani students arrived in Maastricht on the same day that Mrs. Lilianne Ploumen, the Dutch Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation was visiting MsM. Sanan Tapdigov, one of the Azerbaijani EMBA students and Head of the Legal Support Division, Oil-Gas Processing and Petrochemical Complex (OGPC) Project at SOCAR, seized the opportunity to discuss with the Minister about opportunities to intensify the cooperation between the Netherlands and Azerbaijan. In this perspective, Mrs. Ploumen expressed a special interest in the upcoming MsM trade mission to Azerbaijan, aimed at stimulating partnerships in the top Dutch economic sectors of agriculture, high tech and life sciences. The Peruvian students also joined the Minister’s work visit and pleaded for more cooperation in higher education in Latin America.
Both groups conducted several work visits to companies and to the EU institutions in Brussels.
Kristel Karina Castillo Cucalón from Peru enjoyed the work visit to the EU institutions on 3 April right from the start. "Just entering Brussels, we experienced the political organizational culture granted by the European Commission. The EU- African Summit was taking place on the same day of our visit and we felt the real dynamics of the second most important pole of political decisions in the world,” she said. The students learned about the history and organizational structure of the institutions of the European Union as a whole and became acquainted with the network of EU regional committees. Kristel Karina described the EU visit as a fruitful and enlightening experience to the Peruvian group: “It surely enriched our background and positively concluded our MBA program. This onsite visit made us realize that there is an open door to think about Europe as a strategic ally for future commercial ventures. This experience definitely stamped a promising European taste in our MBA training and adds value to our professional paths ahead.”
Apart from the EU institutions, the Azerbaijani students visited the National Bank of Belgium in Brussels. Gunay Teymurova described the experience as “mind-stretching and inspiring”. “Mr. Luc Lagae provided an immersion into the issues, values and visions of the European System of Central Banks and the National Central Bank,” she said. “I ardently believe that our group benefited from the excellent presentation and that this visit will elevate our professional efforts. I am grateful to MsM and ADA University for organizing such meetings and encourage them to offer such site-visits for the next EMBA cohort. It was an invigorating meeting not to be missed!” she added.
During company visits to Holbox, IKEA and SABIC the students learned about the companies’ business models, the challenges they face and the strategies they are developing.
Jamie Vanessa Fernan Zegarra Cueva explained why she highly appreciated the company visit to SABIC. “SABIC is one of the most important companies in the world. We had the great opportunity to visit this company on 19 March. This visit was very interesting and informative to all of us and will surely contribute positively to our MBA study,” she said.
Our Peruvian and Azerbaijani students have now headed back to Lima and Baku, respectively, to continue their MBA studies in their home country. In May MsM will welcome students from its Executive MBA programs in Romania and Yemen for their European study trip.
Further reading
Dutch Minister Ploumen addresses MSM’s international students as future ambassadors and partners
Executive MBA in the Top 100 of the Financial Times Ranking
Business to Business Delegation to Azerbaijan, 22-26 April 2014: Join Us Now
From Lima to Limburg: Business Education for Peru’s Top MBAs
European Study Trip for Participants in Our Unique Yemen MBA
