TURKMENISTAN: WORLD BANK DISCUSSES COOPERATION

UNCLAS ASHGABAT 000385 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EEB TREASURY FOR BAKER/LANIER USAID/W FOR EE/AA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV EAID ECON EFIN TX SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: WORLD BANK DISCUSSES COOPERATION AND COORDINATION IN ECONOMIC PROGRAMS AMONG DONORS REF: A. 07 ASHGABAT 1266 ¶B. ASHGABAT 0369 ¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet. ¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY: During a recent conversation with the local World Bank representative in Ashgabat, he said the World Bank's Payment Systems Unit wants to coordinate better with other donors on some technical assistance projects in Turkmenistan. He also mentioned two economy and finance-oriented visits that will occur in April, indicating further engagement here. END SUMMARY. WORLD BANK'S PAYMENT SYSTEMS UNIT WANTS TO PARTNER WITH U.S. TREASURY DEPARTMENT ¶3. (SBU) On March 24, World Bank Liaison Office in Turkmenistan Operations Officer Serdar Jepbarov said that the World Bank's Payment Systems Unit is looking for partners on technical assistance projects in Turkmenistan, and would be interested in discussing this prospect with the Department of the Treasury. IMF ARTICLE 4 VISIT SCHEDULED FOR APRIL ¶4. (SBU) Jepbarov also said that an International Monetary Fund (IMF) team is coming to Turkmenistan in mid-April for two weeks to work on the Article 4 report (Ref. A). The Article 4 process is complex and will involve every ministry and agency that touches on economy and finance. Therefore, Jepbarov recommended that no economic/finance oriented delegations come to Turkmenistan at this time because the Government of Turkmenistan's resources in these areas will be focused on assisting the IMF with this report. IFC IS COMING IN APRIL, TOO ¶5. (SBU) An International Finance Corporation (IFC) delegation is coming at the end of April to discuss how to improve the business environment with the National Statistics Institute. Jepbarov said that the National Statistics Institute requested this visit after seeing IFC reports on similar topics for other Central Asian countries. Jepbarov said that this meant that "They (Government of Turkmenistan officials) liked what they saw." The IFC team will survey several thousand small and medium enterprise owners and will discuss the Law on Foreign Investment (Ref B) with the Ministry of Economy and Development. ¶6. (SBU) COMMENT: The opportunity to partner with the World Bank on technical assistance projects may offer U.S. agencies a means to roll out out some technical assistance projects in Turkmenistan that would have been difficult without a partner from the international financial institution community. If colleagues from the Department of the Treasury are interested in making contact, post will furnish contact names and coordinates. This discussion also underscores the importance of coordinating our assistance efforts -- including visits -- in the international community. END COMMENT. HOAGLAND