TURKMENISTAN'S OIL AND GAS EXHIBITION LEAVES NO

UNCLAS ASHGABAT 001213 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EEB PLEASE PASS TO USTDA DAN STEIN ENERGY FOR EKIMOFF/THOMPSON COMMERCE FOR HUEPER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON EPET TX SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN'S OIL AND GAS EXHIBITION LEAVES NO ROOM AT THE INNS ¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet. ¶2. (SBU) The administrative officer at Turkmenistan's Ministry of Oil and Gas (please protect) told an embassy employee that foreign interest in the November 13-15 Turkmenistan International Oil and Gas Exhibition (TIOGE) has far exceeded anyone's wildest expectations -- straining the ability of the Ministry of Oil and Gas and Ashgabat's tourist infrastructure to adequately support the event. According to this source, 3,000 have registered to attend the event, which will concurrently combine under one roof both a conference and an exhibition. An unknown number of other individuals seeking to register beyond the cutoff date have been turned away. The Ministry of Oil and Gas -- responsible for the logistical arrangements, including providing hotel space for participants -- did not expect so much interest. With only 513 Western-standard hotel rooms available in the city at any time, there simply are not enough rooms for everybody. The conference facilities, located on the third floor of Ashgabat's Conference and Exhibition Palace, will be similarly strained, and the Ministry of Oil and Gas official despaired of being able to seat more than a small percentage of participants for any one conference session. ¶3. (SBU) Adding to the confusion, responsibility for the conference and exhibition is being shared among three entities: the Ministry of Oil and Gas responsible for the exibition site and for all logistics, the Ashgabat Chamber of Commerce responsible for compiling the catalog, and the conference organizer, ITE. The Ministry of Oil and Gas official stated that the upshot is a badly overburdened event. ¶4. (SBU) COMMENT: Turkmenistan's ministries and Ashgabat's infrastructure simply are not equipped to handle so many people. Delays are inevitable everywhere, including at the airport, on Ashgabat's roads, in its hotels and restaurants, and at the conference site itself. Post urges anybody participating in TIOGE to come with flexibility as well as a sense of adventure and humor (and maybe a few granola bars). In comparison to last year, when organizers considered calling off the event off because of the low registration, TIOGE-2007 will clearly be the event of the year. END COMMENT. HOAGLAND