Section V: Other Activities The following other activities (Technical Assistance Studies, Training, or Technical Symposia) are underway or recently completed and provide contacts on good project prospects to further assist U.S. firms in their pursuit of specific procurement opportunities. Note: items marked with a check (Ö) are new listings for this section. Azerbaijan - Tourism Strategy Development (TA) A USTDA grant was signed with the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Tourism (Ministry) of Azerbaijan for a U.S. firm to provide technical assistance on developing a tourism strategy.  The technical assistance will include assistance with policy, regulatory, and budgetary planning, revising the current tourism master plan, institutional capacity building, development of research and data collection capabilities, developing a marketing plan, and an economic impact analysis. The Government of Azerbaijan has identified tourism as a priority sector as it attempts to diversify its economy and address the challenges of poverty reduction.  Azerbaijan is attracting many foreign oil and gas companies and seeing revenues from that aspect of the economy, and would like to develop its potential to become a regional tourist hub to attract oil and gas workers, and Western Europeans on extended weekends.  Azerbaijan has an enviable seaside location, as well as mountains and lakes, and possesses numerous cultural attractions, including medieval architecture, castles, and caravanserais. Despite its recent economic growth, Azerbaijan's infrastructure remains underdeveloped.  Beyond Baku, tourism infrastructure has yet to be properly capitalized.  The Government of Azerbaijan has begun to address the many challenges of tourism development, for example, by joining the World Tourism Organization (a United Nations agency dedicated to assisting countries with maximizing the economic benefits of tourism) and gave the tourism sector ministry-level attention by creating the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Tourism in 2002.  The World Tourism Organization visited Azerbaijan in 2002 to conduct a detailed technical assistance mission that focused on tourism marketing, and a broad master plan was proposed.  However, before any marketing or other plans can be implemented, it is necessary for Azerbaijan to create a detailed tourism strategy. The aim of this technical assistance project is to allow the Government of Azerbaijan to prioritize its tourism infrastructure development projects, study the market to match existing and prospective tourism destination products with existing and potential demand, analyze the economic impact of market targets, and determine if a plan for establishing a tourism development fund or other revenue base is necessary. USTDA No.: 04-80011A USTDA Grant: $308,050 Est. U.S. Exports: $89 million Est. Start Date: 9/6/04 Est. Completion Date:   9/1/05 Contact: Galib Mammad Caspian Group Consulting (202) 624-0016 Azerbaijan - World Trade Organization Accession - Extension (TA) Azerbaijan, a small country on the Caspian Sea between Iran and Russia, has enormous reserves of both oil and natural gas.  The starting point for the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil and south Caucasus (also known as Baku-Tbilisi-Erzerum) gas pipelines, Azerbaijan has attracted all of the world's major energy firms to its hydrocarbon sector.  As the oil and gas development in Azerbaijan progresses, development in other sectors, such as communications, water and wastewater, hotels, and consumer goods, will follow.  Azerbaijan's membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) will greatly facilitate U.S. investment in their country's growing economy; in acceding to the WTO, Azerbaijan committed itself to observe WTO rules and disciplines and will make any legislative or structural changes required by the multilateral trade body.  Investors in countries that are members of the WTO know the rules in advance and are less vulnerable to random application of, or changes to, laws and regulations. This $943,247 USTDA grant amendment will extend the WTO technical assistance currently being provided to the Azerbaijan Ministry of Economic and Development (MED).  The technical assistance will continue to assist MED in preparing documents for the accession, and advise in creating legislation, regulations and procedures in several key areas.  Booz Allen Hamilton, who was selected as the Contractor through a competitive process in 2003, identified several WTO areas in which MED will need assistance in order to understand and develop positions on the issues.  These areas are:  trade in services; market access/tariffs; technical barriers to trade; sanitary and phyto-sanitary regulations; intellectual property rights; customs; antidumping; and export/import licensing.  The extension will also allow Booz Allen to provide more advisory services on these topics, which are critical to an understanding of the WTO process. USTDA No.: 01-80026E USTDA Grant: $943,247 Est. Start Date: 9/9/04 Est. Completion Date:   9/30/05 Contact: Emad Tinawi Project Manager Booz Allen Hamilton                                     (703) 377-1109 Previous Section | Index | Next Section