Business

First Int’l Transport conference
The First International Exhibition of Caspian and Black Sea countries, and a conference, I & S Caspian and Black Sea Transport 2003, will be held on February 26-28 in Istanbul. The aim of the project is to support investment on transport section of the Caspian and Black Sea countries and to develop mutually useful cooperation. The project is being organized by such professional exhibition and conference organizing companies as ITC Group Plc. (Great Britain), the EUF company (Turkey), Iteca Caspian (Central Asia and Caucasus), Business Events Management Ltd. (Great Britain).
The conference and exhibition are being held with official support and direct participation from the Caspian and Black Sea countries (Turkey, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Georgia, the Ukraine, Armenia, Rumania, Azerbaijan, Iran and Bulgaria). During the conference lasting two days, cooperation of regions on transport, the BTC and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum (BTE) routes, improvement of Trans-Asia Railway system (TAR), political and economical aspects of Silk Road, prospects for developing the Caspian and Black Sea ports, draft investments and other issues will be discussed. Delegations from the Ministries of transport, rail and sea transport, transport and expediter companies, equipment producers, insurance and consulting companies, banks, the European Commission, the UN, World Bank, European Bank of Reconstruction and Development and others are on the list of main conference participants. The First International Transport exhibition of  the Caspian and Black Sea countries will be conducted during the conference. It will be organized at the exhibition centre of Hilton hotel on February 26, 27 and 28.
More than 5000 specialists from more than 150 companies will attend the conference, I & S Caspian and Black Sea Transport 2003.

Chinese grant for Azerbaijan
Deputy head of the department for Europe of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Cyan Din has been to Azerbaijan on an official visit lasting from February 16 till 21. The visit was to further improve Azerbaijani-Chinese relations and discuss prospects for broadening mutual commercial and economic ties. The working group on inter-ministerial economic commercial relations set up by the Chinese ministry and the Azerbaijani ministry held its meeting during the visit. The meeting discussed cooperation in tourism, manufacturing and packing agricultural products, producing equipment for gas industry, machine-building, chemistry, and using materials like PET and PVT in production. It was decided at the meeting to conduct an Azerbaijani-Chinese economic forum in Beijing in 2003 and a letter of agreement was signed with the Chinese government to allocate a grant of $600,000 to Azerbaijan.

State to sell Bakcell stake
Recently, co-founder of the Bakcell-2 joint venture and president of the GTIB company Mr. Nir and vice-president of the US-based Motorola company, which is a shareholder in GTIB, Mr. Sputolnik have paid a two-day visit to Baku. However, the meeting with Minister for Economic Development Farhad Aliyev and Minister for Communications Nadir Ahmadov has not satisfied the visitors. Under an agreement reached in November, 1999, acquiring 25-per cent interest from the Azerbaijani side, GTIB had undertaken to place $5m in the charter fund of the Bakcell JV and to invest $30m. GBIT failed to meet its obligations. In addition, it used communication channels without paying any dividends or fees to the Azerbaijani side. Therefore, during the recent Baku meeting of the co-founders, the share-holding issue was reviewed and the 25-per-cent stake was returned by GTIB.
The Azerbaijani side will bid its interest in Bakcell at ten times more than it was valued in 1993, when the joint venture was set up. In the first instance, this share will be offered to GTIB.

US announces $14-m credit for agri-business
The US Department of Agriculture announced two credit guarantee progams amounting to $14m supporting US-Azerbaijani trading relationships in the agri-bussiness sector. The US embassy in Baku has informed AssA-Irada that the credit guarantee programs, GSM-102 and Supplier credit Guarantee Program, will provide up to $14m in credit guarantees for US exporters working with Azerbaijani agricultural importers. The US Department of Agriculture's Credit Commodity Corporation has again accredited the International Bank of Azerbaijan as the Azerbaijani partner for these two programs.  "The GSM-102 and the Supplier Credit Guarantee programs present new opportunities for viable US-Azerbaijani business partnership" noted Ambassador Ross Wilson. "The increased dollar value and improved terms of these facilities will be attractive to Azerbaijani firms, and reflect our countries' interest in developing Azerbaijan's potential in the non-oil and gas sector."

New draft law on state arrears prepared
The Azerbaijani Ministry of Finance, National Bank and Ministry of Economic Development have prepared a new draft law on State Arrears with technical support from the British Know-How Fund. A spokesman for the Ministry of Economic Development has told AssA-Irada that the document was submitted to the Presidential Administration for consideration. The new draft law addresses issues such as registration of funds borrowed from abroad and controlling their use, as well as the role of the government and the National Bank in repayment.

USA first in assistance to Azerbaijan
The State Statistics Committee has informed AssA-Irada that Azerbaijan received humanitarian and technical assistance totaling $42.7m in 2002. The US takes the first place with $22.1-m aid to Azerbaijan, followed by Japan ($3.6m), Germany ($3.6m), Switzerland ($3.3m), Turkey ($1.8m), Italy ($1.6m), and other countries.

BDA holds first meeting
The Business Development Alliance (BDA) held its first meeting in Baku on February 21.  In attendance were representatives of embassies, local and foreign companies and organizations, focusing on  organizational issues and the future activities of the alliance. The Norwegian embassy in Azerbaijan told AssA-Irada that the meeting was continued under the title of BDA - Alliance, Prospects and Perspectives. The issue, Business battlefield - Industrial Township, was discussed at the event, where the International Finance Corporation held presentations relating to SMEs.
At the moment, the BDA is in the process of preparing to register with the Azerbaijani Ministry of Justice as a non-profit organization. Co-founders of the BDA are two American NGOs: Citizens Democracy Corps and the Eurasian Foundation, the Norwegian and British embassies in Azerbaijan, BP and Statoil companies.

WB Education Mission
A World Bank mission headed by Halil Dundar arrived in Azerbaijan on Monday to appraise the proposed Education Sector Reform Program. The mission will review and conform the specific components, objectives and activities of the proposed project; review and refine budget parameters for each component, review and finalize implementation arrangements for overall project management and draft relevant project documents.  The mission will also liaise with other donor agencies active in the education sector in Azerbaijan to coordinate efforts and prevent duplication of resources. The mission will stay until March 8, 2003.