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.


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Visit Embassy Manama's Classified Website:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/manama/
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MONROE