NOMINATION FOR RESOURCE ECONOMICS SEMINAR

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