Professional Development: A Window into AUAF

Afghan Wireless Communication Company (AWCC) and AUAF's Professional Development Institute recently concluded a collaboration which provided 121 AWCC employees with training in business topics.

Mr. Obaid Adnan Nejati, Director of the Professional Development Institute, says, "We trained management-level members of AWCC in areas of Marketing, Sales Management, Customer Relations, Time Management, and Professional English Language."

He adds, "The training feedback was extremely positive, both in terms of delivery as well as design."

Mr. Najib Raie, Business Support Director of AWCC, describes PDI courses as "flexible and high quality".

"PDI courses are excellent because they are very flexible, high quality, and easy to access. In addition, the instructors are expatriates who have work experience inside Afghanistan, which makes the training content more useable and highly relevant."

PDI is a vital part of AUAF, tasked with meeting the training needs of professionals in Afghanistan and the region. It offers an array of high-impact, high-value training courses, workshops and seminars to professionals from the private sector, non-governmental organizations, and governmental bodies operating in Afghanistan and the region.

Completing his colleague's assessment, AWCC Director of Business Development, Edgar Mueller adds, "After the training, top level management at AWCC no longer runs in an ad hoc fashion. Instead, management processes and implements business plans professionally."

Finding quality capacity-building programs in Afghanistan is not an easy job. Mr. Raie explains, "We tried inviting trainers from India and Pakistan but coordination, accommodation and other issues such as security always exist as problems that either lower the quality of programs or abruptly cancels them."

Based on the success of cooperation, both AWCC and AUAF are considering additional collaboration, including by supporting AWCC students to enroll in the AUAF's undergraduate degree programs.

AWCC has 3,300 employees, of which 95% are Afghan.

Commenting on the success of the collaboration, Vice President of the University, Mr. Johan Brongers says, "We are glad to take part in personnel development of an important company in Afghanistan."