Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06LAPAZ325
2006-02-09 15:18:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy La Paz
Cable title:  

NOMINATION FOR RESOURCE ECONOMICS SEMINAR

Tags:  AFSI APER EMIN ECON BL 
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VZCZCXYZ0021
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLP #0325 0401518
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 091518Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY LA PAZ
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 8003
UNCLAS LA PAZ 000325 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EB/ESC/IEC/ENR AND M/FSI/SPAS/ECON LFOX
STATE ALSO FOR HR/CDA/EL/GEN LSTRAW AND EWOLFSON

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: AFSI APER EMIN ECON BL
SUBJECT: NOMINATION FOR RESOURCE ECONOMICS SEMINAR

REF: STATE 16123

UNCLAS LA PAZ 000325

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EB/ESC/IEC/ENR AND M/FSI/SPAS/ECON LFOX
STATE ALSO FOR HR/CDA/EL/GEN LSTRAW AND EWOLFSON

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: AFSI APER EMIN ECON BL
SUBJECT: NOMINATION FOR RESOURCE ECONOMICS SEMINAR

REF: STATE 16123


1. (U) Post would like to nominate Economic/Commercial
Officer Colleen Crenwelge for the Foreign Service Institute's
July 12-14 Resource Economics Seminar. Ms. Crenwelge has
primary responsibility for the Bolivian mining sector, one of
the country's most important, and serves as U.S. mining
companies' principal point of contact.


2. (U) Since her arrival six months ago, Ms. Crenwelge has
cultivated relationships with government and private sector
actors in the industry, familiarizing herself with the
Bolivian mining code and making herself the Embassy's
resident expert on the issue. She has underscored the
Embassy's interest in U.S. firms' significant investments in
the sector (at approximately $1 billion, these represent the
largest U.S. investments in Bolivia) and analyzed the
potential impact of proposed royalty and tax increases on the
industry's profitability, issues that will only become more
important as Bolivia's new government considers policy
changes and explores the possibility of acting on campaign
pledges to nationalize the country's natural resources.


3. (U) Ms. Crenwelge has acquired familiarity with the mining
industry but would benefit from site visits and discussions
of mineral resource economics. Additional study will improve
her ability to advocate on U.S. companies' behalf and more
effectively convey executives' concerns to new GOB officials,
many of whom lack technical backgrounds and have only limited
government experience. Discussions of other
mineral-dependent economies' experiences may also provide
useful insight and assist Ms. Crenwelge in placing
country-specific concerns within a broader framework.


4. (U) Ms. Crenwelge will remain in her present position
until mid-2007, giving her ample time to apply information
acquired during training to the analysis of developments in
Bolivia's mining sector. She would likely arrive in
Washington several days before the seminar and depart
immediately thereafter. Ms. Crenwelge can be reached by
email (crenwelgece@state.gov),by phone ( 591 2 216 8225),or
by fax ( 591 2 216 8855). Chief of post's combined
economic/political/commercial section is Todd C. Chapman.
GREENLEE