BAKU, AZERBAIJAN (May 19, 2004) – Earlier today, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) awarded a $1,091,840 grant for technical assistance in institutional capacity building for the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ).  The grant was conferred at a signing ceremony at SOFAZ offices in Baku.  U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Reno Harnish and SOFAZ Executive Director Samir Sharifov signed an agreement on behalf of the U.S. and Azerbaijani Governments, respectively.

SOFAZ was created by the Government of Azerbaijan in 1999 in order to accumulate and manage oil-related revenue and maintain it for the purposes of future generations.  The Government of Azerbaijan has seen over $1.1 billion in revenues from the oil industry since then.  This amount is expected to increase as a result of the commissioning of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzerum gas export pipeline.

The USTDA-funded technical assistance is designed to assist SOFAZ in developing its human resources and institutional capacity to better manage these revenues.  The first phase of the assistance will focus on reviewing and refining current asset and risk management guidelines and policies.  The opportunity to provide the technical assistance will be competed among interested U.S. firms via the Federal Business Opportunities website at www.eps.gov.

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency advances economic development and U.S. commercial interests in developing and middle-income countries.  The agency funds various forms of technical assistance, feasibility studies, training, orientation visits and business workshops that support the development of a modern infrastructure and a fair and open trading environment.  USTDA’s strategic use of foreign assistance funds to support sound investment policy and decision-making in host countries creates an enabling environment for trade, investment and sustainable economic development.  In carrying out its mission, USTDA gives emphasis to economic sectors that may benefit from U.S. exports of goods and services.

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