Benchmarking
Microfinance in Eastern Europe and Central Asia 2005
PORTAL NEWS
1.
The results of the Contest among the web-sites for "The best Internet-resource promoting the UN Millennium Goals in Central Asia".
The purpose of the contest was to raise public awareness about priority issues, targeted by the goals for poverty reduction and sustainable human development in the region. Over sixty Internet-resources, covering the processes of socio-economic development in the countries of Central Asia participated in the contest. More information...
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2.
Launch of the new web-resource “Promotion of private sector in Central Asia”. The main goal of the online directory is to promote private sector in the development of cooperation with potential partners in the neighboring countries through provision of an easy access to information about the existing structures, which support the processes of trade, investments, transport and tourism between the countries of the whole Central Asian region.More information...
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EVENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
- REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP
1. November 16, 2006. Ukraine is ready to render any
kind of assistance to Kyrgyzstan. Ukraine is ready to render any
kind of assistance to Kyrgyzstan, particularly in industry,
construction, etc. More information...
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2. November 21, 2006. President Bakiyev met with
Azerbaijani President Aliyev in Antalya. President of Kyrgyzstan
Kurmanbek Bakiyev met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in
Antalya, Turkey. Both leaders expressed their satisfaction
with the level of bilateral cooperation between the countries. More information...
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3. November 22, 2006. Delegation of Uzbek light
industry visited India. A delegation of Uzbekyengilsanoat (Uzbek
light Industry) State Stock Company led by its chairman R.
Ruzikulov visited India. Members of delegation met with Mr. E.V.K.S.
Elangovan, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry of India in
Delhi. During the negotiations the parties pointed out that the visit of
Uzbek delegation is the result of expansion of trade and economic
cooperation between Uzbekistan and India. More information...
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4. November 23, 2006. UK supports Kazakhstan's
accession to WTO. UK supports Kazakhstan's accession to WTO. British
Prime Minister Tony Blair made such a statement at the press conference in
London after his meeting with Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of
Kazakhstan. More information...
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5. November 24, 2006. Uzbekistan is interested in
development of relations with Indonesia. As was pointed out in the course of the
forum of business circles of Uzbekistan and Indonesia, Uzbekistan considers
Indonesia as a reliable partner and is interested in development of
bilateral relations. The forum took
place in Tashkent within the framework of the visit of delegation of Coordination Council
on Investments of the Republic of Indonesia.
More information...
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6. November 24, 2006. Kyrgyz-Russian Inter-Foreign
Ministry Consultations was held in Bishkek. Kyrgyz-Russian
Inter-Foreign Ministry Consultations took place in Bishkek at the
foreign ministry of Kyrgyzstan. The parties discussed issues pertaining to the role of foreign ministries of the states. More information...
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7. November 30, 2006. Kyrgyz business circles
discussed issues of cooperation with Iranian businessmen. Issues of
activating bilateral cooperation became the subject of talks between
Kyrgyz business circles and delegation of Iranian businessmen, which
took place at the Ministry of industry, trade and tourism of Kyrgyzstan.
The delegation of Iranian businessmen has arrived in Bishkek to
familiarize with investment potential of Kyrgyzstan and further
development of bilateral trade-economic cooperation. More information...
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8. November 30, 2006. Heads of EurAsEC insurance
authorities met in Tajikistan. The next meeting of the Council of
heads of insurance supervision and regulation authorities
will take place in May 2007 in
Moscow. A corresponding decision has been made as a result of the
Council meeting that took place in Dushanbe. More information...
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9. November 30, 2006. Participants of the CIS summit
decided to reform the Commonwealth. A decision to reform the CIS was
made at the summit of the Presidents of the CIS member states in Minsk. More information…
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- ECONOMIC REFORMS
1. November 16, 2006. Concept of the sustainable
development of Kazakhstan by 2024 approved. A concept of
sustainable development for 2007 - 2024 has been approved in Kazakhstan.
A corresponding decree signed by Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of
Kazakhstan has been published in official media. More information...
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2. November 21, 2006. Gas pipeline project
Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India was approved in New Delhi.
The participants of the regional conference held in New Delhi supported
the project for constructing a gas pipeline between Turkmenistan,
Afghanistan, Pakistan and India (TAPI).More information...
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3. November 21, 2006. Majlisi Namoyandagon committee
completes consideration of a draft of the national budget. Committees and
commissions of the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of
parliament) have completed consideration of a draft of the national budget for
2007. More information...
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4. November 22, 2006. French company interested in
developing tungsten deposit in Tajikistan. France’s corporation
Sofrimines is interested in participating in development of the tungsten
deposit Maykhura in Tajikistan. Prospects of cooperation between
Tajikistan and France’s Sofrimines in the field of mining were discussed
at a meeting of the ministry’s leadership with representatives from
Sofrimines in Dushanbe. More information...
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- ICT FOR DEVELOPMENT
1. November 20, 2006. The development of
e-government: collaborative attempts of Korea and Uzbekistan. The
collaborative activity aimed at introduction of e-government in
Uzbekistan is successfully implemented through the programmes of
development of ICT cooperation between Korea and Uzbekistan. More information…
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- EDUCATION
1. November 24, 2006. EU allocates grant for quality
control in higher education of Kazakhstan. The European Union will
allocate a grant for the implementation of the project of preparation and
monitoring of a quality control system in the higher education of
Kazakhstan. More information...
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2. November 24, 2006. Regional office of Russian
Foundation for Education was opened in Dushanbe. A regional office
of Russian Foundation for Education was opened at Tajik-Russian Modern
University in Dushanbe. The Foundation's office in Tajikistan will facilitate revival of morality, charity and
education in Tajikistan. More information...
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- GENDER IN DEVELOPMENT
1. November 23, 2006. OSCE-supported gender center
for secondary school teachers was opened in Dushanbe. An
OSCE-supported resource center that is going to provide secondary school
teachers with information and advice on gender issues and ways to raise
gender awareness was opened in Dushanbe. More information…
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- ENVIRONMENT
1. Subregional Frame Convention on environmental
protection for sustainable development in Central Asia was adopted in
Ashgabat. Turkmen capital hosted a meeting of Interstate Commission
on sustainable development of International Fund for Aral Sea Salvation.
Representatives of environmental protection departments and NGOs from
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, as well
as UNEP and UNDP attended the event. The
Frame Convention on environment protection for sustainable development
in Central Asia was adopted within the framework of the meeting. More information…
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
1. December 6-8, 2006. 3rd Russian-Sino-Kazakh oil,
gas forum. The third regular Russian-Sino-Kazakh oil and gas forum
will be held in Shanghai. The conference will focus on the issues like macroeconomic review of energy markets of three states, analysis of its
strategic development, opportunities of investments into perspective
projects of oil and gas branch, development of transport infrastructure
and expansion of trade relations. More information....
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2. December 10, 2006. Training on "Legal regulation
of Advertisement in Uzbekistan and International standards". "LEX
MARK ADVOKAT" Law firm is inviting specialists to participate in the
training on "Legal regulation of Advertisement in Uzbekistan and
International standards ", which is going to be held on December 12-13 in the Hotel Dedeman of
Tashkent. More information....
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3. March 8-10, 2007. European Gender and Information
and Communications Technology (ICT) Symposium. Symposium explores the challenging
phenomena of gender and ICT that take place in-between the cultural
images and societal contexts in the processes where the local intertwine
with the global. The conference aims to be a meeting point for
researchers from different disciplines and research schools. More information....
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4. 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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5. April 13-14, 2007. Call for papers: The 3rd IEU
International Student Conference. Empirical Models in Social
Sciences. The Organizing Committee of the 3rd Izmir University of
Economics (IEU) International Student Conference seeks papers on
“Empirical Models in Social Sciences”. We seek submissions from all
disciplines in social sciences such as business administration,
economics, international relations, logistics, political economy, and
sociology. Papers and presentations must be in English. Abstracts (not
more than 500 words) must be submitted electronically stuconference@ieu.edutr. More information....
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6. April 19-21, 2007. VI Eurasian Media Forum.
The VI Eurasian Media Forum will be carried out in Almaty. The
forthcoming forum is planned to be conducted in the vein of a common
subject "Worrying signs of dehumanising world politics. Toughening civil
and political relations". The forum programme will include a number of
the most relevant for the international political and media community
subjects, including the coverage of Middle East problem, including the
Saddam Hussein trial, the military conflict in Lebanon; the nuclear
policies of Iran and North Korea; the "freedom of speech" in the CIS
member states; the energy security and pipeline policies in Eurasia;
glamour trends in the media; the Borat phenomenon, and other themes. More information....
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7. Economics research grant competition. Grants
up to $14,000 are expected to be awarded to CIS-based scholars –
individual researchers or small research teams (up to 3 persons) for up
to 18 months. Grant size depends on the number of participants and specific
budget requirements of the project. More information....
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There are more than 4300 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 4300 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. Trade, Inequality, and the Political Economy of
Institutions. This IMF publication analyzes the relationship between
international trade and the quality of economic institutions, such as
contract enforcement, rule of law, and property rights. Author: N.Oomes,
O. Dynnikova. Published by the IMF in 2006. See the document…
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2. Quasi-Fiscal Deficits and Energy Conditionality
in Selected CIS Countries. This paper presents a simple framework
for measuring and monitoring quasi-fiscal deficits of public utility
companies in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and highlights their macroeconomic relevance.
Author: S. Tokarick. Prepared by the IMF in 2006. See the document…
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3. The Macroeconomics of Remittances: the Case of
Tajikistan. The paper seeks to assess the macroeconomic implications
of large-scale inward remittances for a small open economy. Author:
A.Kireyev. Prepared by the IMF in 2006. See the document…
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4. How Companies in Eurasia Finance Trade/Investment
Deals: Uzbekistan. The document is the BISNIS report that deals with
the peculiarities of the financial sector in Uzbekistan and claims that
Uzbek banking sector requires a more reliable structure, providing the
business enterprises and sectors of economy with sufficient financial
sources. See the document…
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5. Tough Politics: On Water Management in Central
Asia. The document is an article that contemplates the issues of
water management in Central Asian region. Author: V. Bogatyrev See the document…
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6. Beauty Queens and Wallflowers - Currency Unions
in the Middle East and Central Asia. The document is the publication
of the IMF, which analyzes possible sequences for establishing a
currency union (CU) in the Middle East and Central Asia region Author:
J. Berengaut, K. Elborgh-Woytek. Published by the IMF in 2006. See the document…
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7. Paying Taxes: the Global Picture. Complex tax
systems cut tax revenues for government and make it very hard to assess
the true tax burden on firms, says a new report launched here today by
the World Bank Group and PricewaterhouseCoopers. The report presents
quantitative indicators on the tax rates, payment frequency, and time to
comply with taxes compared across 175 economies - from Afghanistan to
Zimbabwe. See the document…
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8. National Human Development Report 2006. Health
for All: a Key Goal for Uzbekistan in the New Millennium. This
Annual Report on Human Development in the Republic of Uzbekistan focuses
on one of the key indicators which reflects the essence of human
existence and development, namely, health status. The Report consists of
four chapters which describe and analyze general human development
trends in the Republic of Uzbekistan while pointing out how the
country's health indicators and other human development indicators are
interrelated. See the document…
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9. Benchmarking Microfinance in Eastern Europe and
Central Asia 2005. The report emphasizes the region’s leading role
in the integration of microfinance services with the formal financial
sector. It also confirms that the microfinance sector in Eastern Europe
and Central Asia (ECA) remains limited in scale. Published on November
2006 by the Microfinance Information eXchange, Inc. See the document…
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