BAHRAIN: SPRING 2007 FSN ECONOMIC TRAINING

UNCLAS MANAMA 000151 SIPDIS SIPDIS FSI ECONOMICS DIVISION FOR LFOX, NNOYES AND VEASLEY E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AFSI ECON AMGT AFSN ETRD BA SUBJECT: BAHRAIN: SPRING 2007 FSN ECONOMIC TRAINING REF: STATE 16888 ¶1. Embassy Manama wishes to nominate Mr. Mohammed Al Khawaja to attend PE 220: FSN Economic Training from April 30 - May 11, 2007. A) Name: Mohammed Al Khawaja, FSN 9/2 B) Date of Birth: September 2, 1981 C) Nationality: Saudi D) Passport Number: 300101 E) Agency: State F) Position Title: Economic Assistant G) American Supervisor's Name and Email Address: Stephen Simpson, SimpsonSC@state.gov H1) Mr. Al Khawaja's Education: Master of Arts in Financial Economics, University of Dundee, United Kingdom, June 2004. H2) Mr. Al Khawaja's Job Experience: Corporate Loan Risk Evaluator, HSBC Middle East Bank, August 2004 - July 2005. Relationship Manager, Citibank, May 2004 - August 2004. H3) Mr. Al Khawaja's Current Responsibilities: Researches, analyzes and drafts reports on regional economic, business, legal, and commercial issues of interest to the USG from open-source materials and through personal contacts in the government and business communities. Prepares factual and analytical reports related to Bahrain's economic trends, economic issues, the GOB central budget, gross domestic product and other developments, including economic reform and trade policy. I) Description of how course will enhance Mr. Al Khawaja's productivity at Embassy Manama: Post's Economic Unit is a small office with a large mandate. As the Embassy's sole Economic FSN, Mr. Al Khawaja has already proven a valuable resource and his contributions have been crucial to the success of the Political/Economic Section. However, he is new to his position and has received no formal job-related training. His participation in the FSN Economic Training Course will add needed job-specific context to his formal economic training. The fact-finding and drafting aspects are expected to be particularly beneficial. Post assesses that the effectiveness and reporting capability of the Economic Unit will be significantly enhanced if Mr. Al Khawaja is granted the opportunity to receive this highly relevant training. J) Suggestions for course content: The competencies and Foreign Service precepts addressed by these courses, as described in the course outlines, appear well-suited to Mr. Al Khawaja's needs. As requested reftel, Post's module recommendations are as follows: -------------- Weighted PE 220 Module Recommendations -------------- - Drafting Skills: 15% - Interviewing Skills: 15% - What Washington Wants - 15% - Regional and Bilateral Trade Agreements - 15% - Economic Data Analysis Skills: 10% - Consultations With Policy Officials and End-users of Post reporting - 10% - Briefing Skills: 5% - Banking and Financial Market Reforms - 5% - Trade and Exchange Rate Regime Reforms - 5% - Strategic Sectors - 5% K) The skills and topics to be addressed by PE 220 are highly relevant to Mr. Al Khawaja's duties. Because the U.S. successfully implemented a Free Trade Agreement with Bahrain, any coverage of trade agreement implementation would also be quite useful. Post would be interested in nominating Mr. Al Khawaja for PE 222: Trade Agreement Monitoring and Implementation which, from previous correspondence, we understand will be offered for the period May 15 - 18, 2007. L) Comments on previous modules: This will be Mr. Al Khawaja's first opportunity to participate in FSI training. ********************************************* ******** Visit Embassy Manama's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/manama/ ********************************************* ******** MONROE