Capacity Building

Capacity building goes beyond the conventional notion of training. It refers to the establishment of sustainable mechanisms that allow a community or nation to empower itself through the development of its human capital. By developing its local human capital, the community or nation better prepares itself to face development challenges and resolve them in a responsible and sustainable manner.

Although capacity building strategies and contributions depend significantly on the specific context of each circumstance, Marathon is committed to fostering capacity building initiatives that will empower each host community, and subsequently its nation, as well.

Marathon has had success implementing its workforce integration philosophy in all of the countries where it has operations. In addition, Marathon has established institutional capacity building programs that engage local, mid- to high-level government officials and industry leaders through workshops designed to target specific professional skills, such as key negotiation and business practices. In the long term the aim is to increase the institutional capacity in the targeted community, creating a more favorable business environment. The Company has sponsored such efforts among communities within Native American Indian reservations and in Equatorial Guinea.

Examples of capacity building programs include:

  • National Workforce Integration: This program enables select employees to participate in short- and long-term overseas assignments, where they can gain exposure to other operating entities and accelerate their development. Marathon has implemented this strategy of local workforce integration in Equatorial Guinea, Indonesia and Norway.
  • EG LNG National Content Program: This program provides Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) with education, tools and opportunities, with the aim of creating sustainable, economic and capacity development. EGLNG surpassed its goal for local vendor expenditure in 2008 and local vendors were included in 70 percent of all tenders. EGLNG worked with local banks and international businesses to ensure financing was made available. EGLNG also developed and sponsored basic business and computer training programs for local vendors.