Does
Foreign Direct Investment Promote Development?
PORTAL NEWS
1. Launch of the Internet Governance in Central Asia
web-site. The web-resource dedicated to the issues of Internet
Governance in the countries of Central Asia http://www.caginternet.org/ was launched within
the regional Central Asian Gateway Project. The new web-site aims
to attract attention of public, governments, and private sector to the
issues of sustainable functioning and effective use of Internet for
building Information Society.
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EVENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
- REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP
1. September 15, 2006. Meeting of the Council of
heads of governments of SCO member-states. The meeting of the
Council of Prime Ministers of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)
member-states took place in Dushanbe. During the meeting the sides
discussed the state and prospects of trade and economic cooperation. More information...
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2. September 15, 2006. President K.Bakiyev met with
parliamentary delegation of Iran. President of Kyrgyzstan Kurmanbek
Bakiyev met with parliamentary delegation of the Islamic Republic of
Iran led by parliament’s speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel. The parties
discussed prospects of bilateral mutual relations in economic and
culture-humanitarian fields, touched upon issues of deepening
inter-parliamentary cooperation between Kyrgyzstan and Iran. More information...
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3. September 18, 2006. Tajik President, Russian
premier discussed prospects of Tajik-Russian relations. Prospects of
economic cooperation between Tajikistan and the Russian Federation were
in the center of discussions of President Emomali Rahmonov with Russian
Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov in Dushanbe. During the meeting they
discussed the progress in implementation of projects being of mutual
interest. More information...
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4. September 19, 2006. Kyrgyz FM and Head of OSCE
Center discussed cooperation issues. Foreign Minister of Kyrgyzstan
Alikbek Jekshenkulov met with Head of OSCE Centre Markus Muller.
A.Jekshenkulov informed M.Muller about the current internal political
situation in the country. Issues of further strengthening of cooperation
between Kyrgyzstan and OSCE in military-political,
economic-environmental and human development areas were discussed at the
meeting. The parties exchanged opinions on OSCE Centre’s budget for
2007. More information...
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5. September 20, 2006. CSTO to become an instrument
of maintaining information security. The Collective Security Treaty
Organization (CSTO) can become a collective instrument of a co-ordinated
policy in the area of information security and to actively influence
elaboration of principles and norms of the international community in
this area. Toktosun Bozubayev, CSTO Deputy Secretary General, has
expressed such opinion at the II Eurasian Information Security Forum in
Astana. More information...
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6. September 21, 2006. Kazakhstan, Singapore signed
agreement on avoidance of double taxation. The agreement on
avoidance of double taxation with regard to income taxes between
Kazakhstan and Singapore was signed during the visit of the Kazakhstani
delegation to Singapore for participation in the annual meeting of the
Board of Governors of the World Bank and the International Monetary
Fund. More information...
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7. September 22, 2006. Kyrgyzstan and Organization
of Islamic Conference activate bilateral relations. Minister of
Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan Alikbek Jekshenkulov and OIC Secretary
General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu expressed mutual aspiration to strengthen
and expand bilateral relations during the the meeting in New York. The
agreement was achieved on further activation of cooperation between
Kyrgyzstan and OIC. More information...
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8. September 22, 2006. Kazakhstan, Russia to sign 39
agreements on formation of customs union. Kazakhstan and Russia are
going to sign 39 agreements on formation of the Customs Union within the
Common Economic Space. More information...
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9. September 25, 2006. Uzbekistan, Russia signed
programme of military-scientific cooperation. Defence Minister of
the Russian Federation Sergey Ivanov and Defence Minister of the
Republic of Uzbekistan Ruslan Mirzaev signed a programme of
military-scientific cooperation in Sochi, Russia. "This cooperation is
developing continuously," Ivanov said. "The joint maneuvers are
conducted every year, and if necessary the armed forces of both
countries can use each other's infrastructure". More information...
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10. September 25, 2006. President of Kazakhstan
discussed cooperation issues with Russian VPM. President of
Kazakhstan discussed the Russian-Kazakhstani cooperation issues with
Dmitriy Medvedev, First Vice Prime Minister of Russian Federation. More information...
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11. September 25, 2006. Chairmen of Supreme Courts
of SCO signed joint declaration in Shanghai. The joint declaration
was signed by the Chairmen of the Supreme Courts of China, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan at the first conference of
the Chairmen of SCO Supreme Courts. Judicial exchanges and cooperation
among the Supreme Courts of SCO member countries will help to maintain
and boost trust, mutual benefit, equality and coordination, and be
conducive to sustained peace and common prosperity in the region, the
declaration states. More information...
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12. September 25, 2006. New transportation
opportunities within EurAsEC. The member-states of EurAsEC prepare
pilot project on launching the routs for the container trains
(Urumchi-Brest and Urumchi-Moscow). This initiative is being implemented
within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Community. More information...
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13. September 26, 2006. Niyazov, Putin discussed
bilateral cooperation. The Turkmen and Russian leaders discussed the
topical issues of bilateral cooperation during the phone talks. The
sides expressed mutual satisfaction with the level and pace of
development of interaction in the energy field, first of all, in the gas
sector. More information...
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14. September 28, 2006. Kyrgyz government approved
inter-governmental Kyrgyz-Uzbek agreement on mutual trips of
citizens. The government of Kyrgyzstan approved intergovernmental
Kyrgyz-Uzbek agreement in mutual trips of citizens. Prime Minister Felix
Kulov signed the corresponding governmental decree. According to the
draft agreement, the governments of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan agreed
that citizens of two states, possessing validity of documents, might
leave, enter, transit and temporary stay on the territory of two states
without visa within 60 days. More information...
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15. September 29, 2006. President of RK met with US
Vice President. President of Kazakhstan met with Richard Cheney, US
Vice President. Economic co-operation and participation of US companies
in the industrial and innovative development of the Kazakhstan economy
were discussed at the meeting. More information…
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- ECONOMIC REFORMS
1. September 18, 2006. "Petro-Vietnam" to open its
representation in Kazakhstan. The national oil & gas corporation
of Vietnam "Petro-Vietnam" is going to open an office in Kazakhstan.
This was stated at the meeting of Danial Akhmetov, Prime Minister of RK,
and the company representatives. The company representatives said, that
they interested in closer co-operation with Kazakhstan and in a search
of partners that would invest into the country's economy. Potential
participation in the oil & gas projects of Kazakhstan was discussed
as well. More information...
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2. September 19, 2006. Trade between Tajikistan and
China to exceed USD200 million by the end of the year. The meeting
of businessmen from Tajikistan and China was held in the building of
Tajikistan’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI). The meeting focused
on state and prospects of further expansion of economic and trade
cooperation between the two countries. China is among five main trading
partners of Tajikistan. During the meeting it was noted that a trade
between Tajikistan and China will have exceeded US$200 million by the
end of this year. More information...
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3. September 20, 2006. Turkish Government highly
appreciated investment climate in Kyrgyzstan. First Vice Prime
Minister of Kyrgyzstan Daniar Usenov met in Istanbul with Turkish State
Minister for Foreign Trade Kursat Tuzmen. During the meeting the sides
discussed perspectives of bilateral economic cooperation. Tuzmen noted
that the Turkish Government highly appreciates measures undertaken by
new leadership of Kyrgyzstan on creation of favorable investment climate
in the republic. More information...
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4. September 25, 2006. USD50 million gas processing
complex was commissioned at Bagadja field. The Bagadja gas-processing
complex has been put into operation on one of the most promising gas
condensate fields in the Lebap province of Turkmenistan. The USD50
million modern engineering facility was built upon the contract between
the "Turkmengaz" State Concern and the Canadian Thermo Design
Engineering. More information...
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5. September 26, 2006. Uzbek-Korean business-forum
was held in Tashkent. During the forum, Chairman of Chamber of
Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan A.Shayhov and the president of
Commerce and Industrial Chamber of Korea Kim Sang Yul emphasized that
cooperation between the two countries in trade, mechanical engineering,
textile industry, telecommunications and information technologies, oil
and gas, and tourism is actively developing. More information...
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6. September 28, 2006. President of Uzbekistan
signed Resolution on measures for further development of securities
market. The document aims to facilitate development of securities
market, ensure its transparency and sustainability, promote investments,
improve corporate management, and protect the rights of shareholders. More information...
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- ICT FOR DEVELOPMENT
1. September 28, 2006. Kazakhstan studied
Singapore’s e-government implementation. The delegation of Kazakh
Finance Ministry, headed by deputy Chairman of Customs Control Committee
Alikhan Mambetalin paid a visit to Singapore on September 14-21. The
visit of Kazakh delegation was aimed at studying the experience of
Singapore’s electronic government system implementation. More information...
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2. September 28, 2006. Official awards ceremony of
the winners of the Youth Internet-Marathon took place in Tashkent.
The official awards ceremony of the winners of the Youth
Internet-Marathon, dedicated to the 15th anniversary of the Independence
of the Republic of Uzbekistan took place at the “The First National
Exhibition of Information Technologies – ICTExpo 2006” in Tashkent. The
winners of the competition received diplomas and various prizes from the
organizers of the competition. Among the organizers of the marathon are:
Agency of Communication and Informatization of Uzbekistan, Women’s
Committee of Uzbekistan, Computerization and Information Technology
Developing Center “UzInfoCom”, Tashkent State University of Information
Technologies, UN Information Center, UNDP Projects “Capacity Building
for Internet Technologies Development and Promotion” and “Assisting the
Government of Uzbekistan in the formulation and implementation of ICT
policy for the development of Uzbekistan” (ICT Policy Project), Central
Asian Gateway, and «InfoCOM.UZ» Information-analytical magazine. More information...
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3. September 29, 2006. Conference on "Processing of
Asian languages and information technologies" ALPIT2006. The
international conference on "Processing of Asian languages and
information technologies" - ALPIT2006 took place at the Tashkent
University of Information Technologies in the framework of the ICT week.
The conference was organized by the university in cooperation with the
Korean Information Processing Society (KIPS) and Information Technology
Internationalization Research Center, ITIRC, Republic of Korea. The main
objective of the conference was to provide an opportunity for
researchers, developers and users, interested in Asian languages
development to discuss related issues. More information...
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- GENDER IN DEVELOPMENT
1. September 25, 2006. CIS women’s NGOs met in
Bishkek for regional conference. A three-day regional conference
formally titled “Modern Women’s Movement: Ideology, Practice and
Prospects”, concluded in the Kyrgyz capital city of Bishkek on September
20. The conference brought together 60 representatives of NGOs and other
public associations from Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Representatives
from the Kyrgyz government and international organizations active in
Kyrgyzstan also took part in the conference. The goal of the conference
was to seek efficient approaches to the development of women’s movements
and to raising the role of women in the political life of former Soviet
countries through inter-regional discussions and expanding women’s
access to leadership opportunities. More information…
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- HEALTH
1. September 27, 2006. Inter-parliamentary working
group on HIV/AIDS was created by participants of conference in
Bishkek. International parliamentary conference entitled “HIV
epidemic in Central Asian countries and Eastern Europe: legislative
provision of measures on counteracting HIV extension and priorities of
interregional cooperation” took place in Bishkek. The meeting
participants decided to establish a joint working group that will
coordinate the work of parliamentarians of conference’s member countries
in the sphere of HIV/AIDS. Representatives of the Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine’s parliaments and
international agencies took part in the forum. More information…
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- DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE
1. September 25, 2006. PDPT nominates Emomali
Rahmonov for presidency. Incumbent President Emomali Rahmonov has
decided to seek a third term. Delegates of the ninth congress of the
PDPT in Dushanbe unanimously supported the candidacy of the incumbent
president. 1,892 of 1,904 delegates elected from all regions of the
country took part in the congress’ work. More information...
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2. September 27, 2006. CIS observers’ mission opens
its office in Dushanbe. The first group of CIS observers led by
Vladimir Garkun, Deputy CIS Executive Secretary, has arrived in
Dushanbe. The mission of the CIS observers to monitor the November 6
presidential election opened its office at the “Kokhi Vahdat” State
Complex in Dushanbe. They will monitor and analyze a process of
formation of electoral commissions at the constituencies and polling
stations and familiarize themselves with work of the electoral
commission on considering complains and applications of participants of
the voting process, etc. All in all, 50-60 CIS observers will monitor
the presidential election in Tajikistan. A group of the CIS short-term
observers is expected to arrive in Tajikistan a week before the
election. The short-term observers from CIS will monitor voting on
election day. More information...
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- OTHER
1. September 20, 2006. Presentation of "General
equilibrium model for Uzbekistan: taxation and international trade" took
place in Tashkent. The presentation of the aggregated version of
applied general equilibrium model for Uzbekistan was held in the
conference hall of Poytaht Hotel. The presentation was conducted in the
framework of UNDP Reforming Tax System and Developing New Revision of
Tax Code Project and Capacity Building and Strengthening Foreign Trade
and Investment Promotion Institutions in Uzbekistan Project. These
Projects are being implemented at the request of the Government of
Uzbekistan and providing assistance to development and application of
macroeconomic models of Uzbekistan's development. More information...
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2. September 26, 2006. Center of legal information
of Russia was opened in Naryn. Center of legal information of Russia
was opened in Naryn with the support of UNESCO and Federal Migration
Service of Russia. The center is opened on the base of the “Legal
economic center”. Now Naryn citizens can familiarize with legal base of
Russia, the database updates regularly. Opening of such center is
today’s necessity, when outflow of labour migrants from Kyrgyzstan to
Russia is increasing. More information...
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
1. October 3, 2006. Investment and Business
Opportunities in Uzbekistan will be presented in Washington. The
Annual conference of the American -Uzbekistan Chamber of Commerce (AUCC)
will take place at the Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan to USA,
Washington, D.C. The top officials from Uzbekistan and the USA,
representatives of business circles from Uzbekistan will attend the
event. More information....
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2. October 6, 2006. Energy workshop of the Asian
Co-operation Dialogue. An energy workshop of the Asian Co-operation
Dialogue will be held in Almaty as a part of the International Oil &
Gas Exhibition "KIOGE". The workshop will be carried out by the Ministry
of Energy and Mineral Resources of Kazakhstan together with the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan. Measures to boost energy efficiency
and energy saving, development of alternative energy sources and
infrastructure, increase of the environmental energy security, the
information exchange in the innovation development and the transfer of
technologies in the energy area, co-operation in the creation of new
energy capacities and the energy transportation, co-operation in the
nuclear energy will be discussed at the workshop. More information....
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3. October 17-18, 2006. Second International Uzbek
Cotton Fair. Program of the second International Uzbek Cotton Fair
foresees holding of various events. Besides signing agreements on
purchase of Uzbek cotton, the participants will also consider the issues
on bilateral cooperation in the processes, concerned with processing and
exporting of cotton. Meetings of representatives of cotton processing
industry of Uzbekistan with foreign customers will also be held within
the framework of the fair. Participants of the fair will have an
opportunity to get acquainted with particular qualities of Uzbek cotton,
the last innovation of its growing and realization. During the
exhibition in Uzexpocenter the experts will familiarize with the samples
of sorts of crop 2006. More information....
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4. October 23-30, 2006. First international contest
of violin players. The first international contest of violin players
will take place in Astana. Contest to be organized by Kazakh Culture and
Information Ministry and Kazakh National Academy of Music. The amount of
Grand Prix is USD 7 000. At present, the performers from China, Russia,
Japan, Italy, Moldova and Uzbekistan have indicated their willingness to
participate in the contest. More information....
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5. October 30-31, 2006. Financial Summit «Banking
and Finance in the Baltics». Baltic Financial Summit «Banking and
Finance in the Baltics», which is conducted in Riga, is the major
financial event in the Baltic region. The summit will bring together
around 350 participants from the Baltic States, Europe, Russia and the
CIS. Delegates attending the summit this year will include Ministers of
Finance and Economy, Governors of National Banks of the Baltics, as well
as heads of commercial and investment banks, insurance companies and
other financial organizations and major companies. During the 2006
summit the main topics of macroeconomic and banking system development,
as well as financial issues of the Baltic region will be discussed in
the light of the EU development in dialogue with government
representatives, business people, bankers, investors and representatives
of international financial organizations. Summit languages: English,
Latvian, Russian (simultaneous translation). More information....
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6. November 2-4, 2006. The Thirteenth Annual CIS
& Eastern Europe Business Forum. This symposium is designed for
those who are planning to do business in countries of the former Soviet
Union and Eastern Europe or who are currently doing business there. The
program includes case studies of successful businesses, presentations on
support programs available, and analyses of current legal, political,
cultural, and economic issues. To be held at the Tucson East Hilton,
7600 East Broadway Blvd, Tucson, Arizona. Organized by the University of
Arizona's Department of Russian and Slavic Studies. For further
information, please call the University of Arizona Department of Russian
and Slavic Studies at 520-621-7341 and ask for senior lecturer Roza
Simkhovich or administrative assistant Sarah Monks. More information....
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7. November 10, 2006. Photo Exhibition "Uzbekistan -
the Heart of Central Asia. Values of Development". Chamber of
Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Uzbekistan, "Economic Review"
magazine and the United Nations Development Programme in Uzbekistan
would like to invite amateur photographers who are non-residents of the
Republic of Uzbekistan and temporarily living on its territory to
participate in Second Photo-exhibition "Uzbekistan - the Heart of
Central Asia. Values of Development". The overall goal of this
initiative is to reflect Uzbekistan's contemporary society and
development process through photos made by foreign visitors. The first
exhibition "Uzbekistan - the Heart of Central Asia, Reflections of
Development" was conducted on 7-31 December, 2005. The photos from
exhibition were printed in special catalog, and now are also available
at http://www.artandcraft.uz/. Applications should be
submitted by November 10, 2006.. More information....
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8. November 20-21, 2006. Conference "Wealth
Management in Russia". Conference "Wealth Management in Russia" will
take place at Balchug Kempinski Hotel, in Moscow, Russia. Conference
will gather approximately 200 high-level participants: Presidents and
Heads of Private Banking Departments of Banks, Chief Executives of Asset
Management, Investment and Real Estate Companies, Family Offices, Legal
and Financial Advisers, as well as their clients – High Net Worth
Individuals. More information....
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9. March 12-13, 2007. International Conference on
Information Systems, Technology and Management. IMT, Ghaziabad,
India and University of Florida, USA join hands with an aim to provide a
forum for presentation of new research results and demonstration of new
systems and techniques in the areas of information systems, technology
and management. The conference aims to bring together developers, users,
academicians and researchers from academia and industry community for
sharing and exploring new vistas of research and development and to
discuss emerging issues facing business organizations in the knowledge
economy. More information....
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There are more than 4000 events relevant to
socio-economic development of the Central Asian region in the portal's
Calendar. For more events please visit: http://www.cagateway.org/calendar.php.
NEWLY ADDED DOCUMENTS
There are more than 3900 links to analytical documents
relevant to socio-economic development and effective governance in the
Central Asian countries in the CAG portal's Publications'
database.
1. Delivering on the Promise of Pro-Poor Growth.
The presented document identifies the mechanisms through which the
poor benefit from and participate in growth, and the most appropriate
policies to enhance the capacity of poor people to participate in it. It
also takes into account the different initial conditions faced by each
country while offering a practical framework for improving country level
diagnostics of growth/poverty linkages. Prepared: World Bank, 2006. See the document…
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2. Brief course to the Internet history. The
document represents a brief and fragmentary summary of Internet history.
In the presented article authors, participated in elaboration and
development of the Internet, share their opinion on beginnings and
history of this phenomenon. Published by the Jet Info. See the document…
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3. National Human Development Reports and the Human
Security Framework: A review of Analysis and Experience. The purpose
of the series is to provide theoretical background and practical support
for development practitioners to address certain themes within a human
development conceptual framework. The papers draw upon a thorough review
of a number of NHDRs, addressing the theme in question as well as
cutting-edge literature in the field. They also include analysis from
global Human Development Reports and other relevant international
agreements and materials. Prepared: Institute of Development Studies,
2006. See the document…
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4. EurAsEC as alternative of WTO. Document
represents an analytical article, which considers the opportunity of
"Alternative WTO" creation on a basis of one regional project of
EurAsEC. Author: Sharif Guseynov, 2006. See the document…
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5. Global E-Government, 2006. The document
represents the sixth annual update on global e-government. Using an
analysis of 1,782 government websites in 198 different nations
undertaken during summer, 2006, Center for Public Policy investigates
electronic government. Prepared: Center For Public Policy, 2006. See the document…
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6. Monitoring Health Equity in the MDGs: A Practical
Guide. The Guide provides a method for analyzing indicators across a
number of social strata including wealth, ethnicity, education, region,
sex, and geography. The methodology presented includes both single and
simultaneous stratification that allow for the generation of fairly
simple, quick equity-monitoring tools. The mode of presentation is
instructional, rather than theoretical. Prepared: CIESIN and UNICEF,
January 2006. See the document…
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7. Internet in the world politics and international
relations. Document represent an article, in which Internet is
presented as the important factor of world politics, global society
creation, irritant and object of the international affairs. The author:
D.N. Peskov. See the document…
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8. Does Foreign Direct Investment Promote
Development? The presented book seeks to untangle the knotty
questions in a field of FDI and presents new results of current
researches that show how host countries can maximize the benefits of
FDI. Prepared: The Institute for International Economics, 2005. See the document…
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