Author: Kalashian Nyrie

Tehran Times, Iran
Aug 1 2004
Iran Exchanges 922KW Of Energy With 2 Central Asian States
ARDABIL (IRNA) – Azarbaijan Regional Electrical Company (AREC)
Managing Director Fattah Qarabagh announced that Iran has exchanged
922 kilowatts of electricity with Azerbaijan and Armenia since
January 2004.
On the sidelines of an induction ceremony for the new managing
director of the Ardabil Power Distribution Company, he told IRNA that
of the above-stated amount of energy that was exchanged, 280 million
KWh were transferred to Azerbaijan and Armenia while the remainder
was delivered to Iran by the two Central Asian states.
“Electricity exchanges take place due to the increased rate of energy
consumption in Iran during summer and the high demand for it in
Azerbaijan and Armenia during winter.
“Energy is currently transferred from the following four points in
northwestern Iran to the specified destinations: from Parsabad to
Imsheli in the Azerbaijan Republic, from Ahar to Agarak in Armenia,
from Julfa to Ordubad in the Autonomous Republic of Nakhichevan and
from Aras dam to Nakhichevan,” he added.
He noted that a 154-kilovolt power transmission line had become
operational between the Iranian-Turkish border and Dogubayazit in
Turkey but that for the time being it is closed.
“Construction work on a 400-kilovolt transmission line connecting a
power station in the city of Khoy, in West Azarbaijan Province, to
Bashkaleh in Turkey is almost finished and is expected to be fully
operational in the near future.
“Besides, the Iranian Power Development Organization and AREC are
jointly constructing a 330-kilovolt transmission line between
Parsabad (Iran) and Imsheli (Turkey),” he informed.
Qarabagh pointed out that Ardabil Province is suitably located for
the transit of power to Central Asian republics and Russia.
At the close of the ceremony, Qarabagh expressed his appreciation for
the sincere efforts of the outgoing managing director of the Ardabil
Power Distribution Company and his substitute Rashid Shomali, who
were both presented to the participants.

Armenian court sentences Azeri spy ring – web site
Iravunk web site, Yerevan
30 Jul 04
Text of A. Minasyan report by Armenian newspaper Iravunk web site on
30 July headlined “What ‘Argo’, ‘Lilo’, ‘Tokio’ and ‘Dzhoni’ were
doing in Armenia”
On Monday, 19 July, the court of appeal of the Republic of Armenia
imposed a sentence on a group of individuals who were accused of
spying, leaving unchanged the decision of the first-instance courts of
the communities of Tsentr and Nor-Marash of the city of Yerevan. The
court hearings have been held at these courts since 2003. The
first-instance court, headed by chairwoman Gayane Karakhanyan, imposed
a sentence on the group of individuals who were involved in spying
against Armenia, according to which the head of the group, Nina
Shilina, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, member of the group
Edgar Filkov – to 13 years in prison, Ivetta Filkova and Aleksandr
Gasparyan – to 10 years, and Artur Oganesov – to one year and a half.
According to the bill of indictment, Nina Shilina, born in 1949 in the
village of Ola in Magadan Region of the Russian Federation, moved to
the town of Dzhermuk in the Republic of Armenia for permanent
residence on 12 May 1988. In February 1993, she was recruited by the
staffers of the Azerbaijani Interior Ministry department for the fight
against Armenian terrorism. After agreeing to cooperate with them, she
was instructed to carry out sabotage and intelligence activities in
Armenia.
In 1993, she was instructed by Alakbar Ismailov to carry out an act of
sabotage together with a person named Rafik, who spoke fluent
Armenian, in the Erebuni hotel in Yerevan. In May, she travelled from
Baku to Tbilisi and thence to Yerevan, carrying two factory-sealed
cans of the Turkish-made margarine Can. Each of the cans contained
the explosive substance TNT, 15 kg in total, 200- and 400-gram
explosive devices and other factory-made mechanisms which were
attached with wires to a vacuum cleaner that she also brought with
her. Explosive devices were also installed in two Slava
wrist-watches. On the same day, they arrived in the Erebuni hotel by a
Moskvich taxi, introduced themselves as an Armenian couple who had
come from the Krasnodar Territory of the Russian Federation, and asked
for a room. They were given room 313 on the third floor.
Two days later, after Rafik, with Nina’s help, planted explosive
devices in a sofa and wound the watch, they secretly disappeared from
the hotel and went back to Baku. The explosion did not take place for
reasons beyond their control. After that, Nina was instructed to
gather information about the social, economic and political situation
in Armenia, for which reason she visited Armenia a few times before
Spring 1994, gathered the requested information and reported it to
Alakbar Ismailov.
In 1995, Ismailov recommended that Shilina should be recruited by the
staffers of the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry Intelligence
Department. She chose the nickname “Argo” and was instructed to gather
military and other information, including on the number of troops in
the army units stationed in the Republic of Armenia and Republic of
Nagornyy Karabakh, the number of officers in them and their technical
equipment. From 1995 to 1997, she would regularly visit Armenia,
gather military and other information and go back to Baku. Since 1997
she had been living in the town of Yekhegnadzor in the Republic of
Armenia, and reported different kinds of information till the day of
her arrest on 6 August 2002.
Incidentally, she also collected military information from Artur
Oganesov, who was also sentenced to imprisonment. He worked at the
operations department of the Staff of the Armenian Defence Ministry
with the rank of lieutenant-colonel in 2000-2001. Oganesov kept
records which included data on the organizational structure of the
army units stationed in the Republics of Armenia and Republic of
Nagornyy Karabakh, about codenames and actual names of the military
units, phone numbers. Shilina became close to Oganesov’s wife, managed
to gain for herself free access to their apartment, and reported
classified records to the Azeris. She was paid 150-300 US dollars for
each piece of information by the secret services.
The others sentenced – Ivetta Filkova, alias “Lilo”, Edgar Filkov,
alias “Dzhoni” and Aleksandr Gasparyan, alias “Tokio” – received
instructions from the Azerbaijani special services via Shilina.
[signed] A. Minasyan

SHARE OF FOREIGN CAPITAL IN AUTHORIZED FUND OF BANKING SYSTEM OF
ARMENIA REACHES 19.7 BLN DRAMS IN SECOND QUARTER OF 2004
YEREVAN, JULY 27, ARMINFO. Share of foreign capital in the authorized
fund of the banking system of Armenia increased by 1.7 per cent in the
second quarter of 2004, totaling 19.7 bln drams or 52% on July 1. The
authorized capital of the banking system increased by 2.4% in the
second quarter, as 3 commercial banks had replenished their authorized
funds by a total of 875 mln drams. As a result, the given indicator
made up 37.9 bln drams on July 1, 2004.
The press-service of the Armenian Central Bank told ARMINFO that the
summary capital for the second quarter increased by 5.7%, reaching
55.7 bln drams by July 1, 2004. Undistributed profits for the first
half totaled 4.3 bln drams on this date (the bank operating in the
special administrative regime exclusive), the major reserves totaled
5.1 bln drams. The profits-authorized capital ratio totaled 11.3%.
According to data of the Armenian CB, by July 1. 2004, 20 banks and
221 branches operated in the territory of Armenia, with one operating
in the special administrative regime of the Armenian CB. The results
of the activity of the country’s banking system were summed up on July
1, 2004 on the basis of data of 19 normally operating commercial
banks.

ArmenPress
July 27 2004
ARMENIAN FM DENIES RUMORS ABOUT HANDING THREE REGIONS TO AZERBAIJAN

YEREVAN, JULY 27, ARMENPRESS: Armenian foreign minister Oskanian
denied Monday rumors that Armenia was going to hand three of several
Azeri regions, now under the control of Armenian troops, back to
Azerbaijan, describing them as “groundless.” “It is excluded because
the main focus in Nagorno Karabagh talks today is on its political
status and unless it is specified the return of these regions is out
of the question,” Oskanian told a second Pan-Armenian Youth
Conference in a resort town of Tsaghkadzor.
The minister said such rumors should not be trusted because they
may be resulting from political speculations. He, however, did not
deny the circulating allegations within the Council of Europe, spread
by Azerbaijan that these lands are being used as a nuclear waste
dump, for trafficking and terrorism, but said that the ministry has
detailed and grounded answers to such allegations and that it will
use the first opportunity to present them.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

WB TO ALLOCATE CREDIT FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF SOCIAL PROGRAM
YEREVAN, JULY 26. ARMINFO. Today Minister for Trade and Social Affairs
of Armenia Aghvan Vardanyan and Head of program of social reforms in
Armenia financed by the WB, A. Posaraki, discussed an investment
agreement “Managerial program in the sphere of social welfare” to be
signed on July 30.
The press-service of the ministry told ARMINFO that the agreement will
be signed between the Armenian Government and the World Bank. The
sides discussed nuances connected with distribution of financial
allowances to unsecured families in 2004-2005. Vardanyan proposed
Posaraki to find a way to solve the problem with distribution of
poverty allowances to lonely pensioners. The sides also discussed
issues related to establishment of communities centers for care for
children from socially unsecured families in the Achapnyak community
of Yerevan and in the town of Gyumri.

Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region
104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
Glendale, CA 91206
Phone: 818.500.1918
Fax: 818.246.7353
[email protected]
PRESS RELEASE
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Contact: Ardashes Kassakhian
818.500.1918
LOCAL ANC CHAPTERS PRAISE CONGRESSMAN SCHIFF FOR GENOCIDE AMENDMENT
Armenian-Americans Activists Criticize Congressional Leaders for
Capitulating to a Foreign Government
Los Angeles, CA – A powerful coalition of Armenian Americans expressed
their strong support over the weekend for Congressman Adam Schiff who
authored an Armenian Genocide Amendment that was passed by the
U.S. House of Representatives last week, announced the Armenian
National Committee of America-Western Region (ANCA-WR). The Amendment
prevents Turkey from spending U.S. foreign aid dollars against
legislation pending in Congress that recognizes the Armenian Genocide.
`Our ANC chapters stand united with Congressman Schiff in his effort
to ensure that U.S. taxpayer dollars are not used by Turkey to deny
the Armenian Genocide,’ commented ANCA-WR Executive Director Ardashes
Kassakhian. `Our local ANC chapters stand ready to fight the stated
intention of the Republican Leadership in Congress and the White House
to strike the Schiff Amendment language when the foreign aid bill goes
to conference,’ he added.
Kassakhian referred to the joint statement by House Speaker Dennis
Hastert (R-IL), House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) and House
Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO). The Republican Leadership released a
statement that read:`We are strongly opposed to the Schiff
Amendmentâ=80¦ we will insist that conferees drop that provision in
conference. We have contacted the Bush Administration, and they have
indicated their strong oppositionâ=80¦ Turkey has been a reliable ally
of the United States for decadesâ=80¦ our mutual economic and security
relationship rests should not be disrupted by this amendment. Our
relationship with Turkey is too important to us to allow it to be in
any way damaged by a poorly crafted and ultimately meaningless
amendment. Furthermore, we have no intention of scheduling
H. Res. 193… during the remainder of this Congress.’
`Ronald Reagan was the last President to properly commemorate the
Armenian Genocide,’ explained Burbank ANC Chair Peter Musurlian. `The
late President- a hero to many Armenian American Republicans-would be
ashamed at what is taking place on Capitol Hill, with the House
leadership’s refusal to allow a vote on moral clarity.’
Glendale ANC Chair Pierre Charaghchian added, `The opposition to the
Schiff Amendment by Republican leaders in Congress is sad. Sad
because it shows how much influence the Republic of Turkey, a foreign
government, has over some Members of Congress.’
The leaders of the Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena and La Crescenta
Armenian National Committee chapters praised Schiff for successfully
securing passage of his amendment. The Schiff Amendment was adopted
by voice vote during consideration of the House Foreign Operations
Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2005 on Thursday, July 15, 2004.
The foreign aid bill was later passed bya vote of 365 to 41.
`Armenian Americans in Pasadena are proud to have Congressman Schiff
spearhead the effort to properly recognize the first Genocide of the
20th Century,’ stressed Pasadena ANC Chair Shahan Stepanian. `We are
ready to mobilize the community and ensure that the Amendment passes
through the joint House-Senate Conference Committee.’
`It is unfortunate that our Congressional leaders fail to demonstrate
moral clarity on the issue of genocide recognition and prevention.
Eventually, public policy will catch up to the truth and we will not
let a few select politicians change America’s proud response to the
Armenian Genocide,’ stated La Crescenta ANC Chair Sarkis Tchakian.
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) is the largest and
most influential Armenian American grassroots political organization.
Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and
supporters throughout the United States and affiliated organizations
around the world, the ANCA actively advances the concerns and
interests of the Armenian American community.
For the latest news and action alerts log onto _www.anca.org_
() .

PRESS RELEASE
July 22, 2004
American University of Armenia Corporation
300 Lakeside Drive, 4th Floor
Oakland, CA 94612
Telephone: (510) 987-9452
Fax: (510) 208-3576
Contact: Gohar Momjian
E-mail: [email protected]
Water Safety in Armenia
Yerevan – The Environmental Conservation and Research Center of the American
University of Armenia and the Caucasus Environmental NGO Network, Yerevan
Office hosted a free Environmental Panel Discussion on July 14, 2004,
focusing on Water Safety and Water Supply in Armenia.
Based upon the Yerevan Water Company’s findings, there were only about 30
violations for bacterial contamination among the more than 10,000 samples
taken last year. Panelists included Dr. Vladimir Davidyants, Chief Sanitary
Doctor of the Republic of Armenia, Ministry of Health, Mr. Richard Walkling,
Chief Executive Officer, Yervodokanal (Yerevan Canal Company), Mr. Eduard
Mesropyan, Director, JINJ Environmental Consulting, and Dr. Charles Dunlap,
Director, Environmental Conservation and Research Center, American
University of Armenia. They raised some concern that these samples may not
fully represent the quality of water that many people are drinking because
the samples were not taken in the upper floors of buildings. However, it
was noted that if the low levels of bacterial contamination in Yerevan are
correct, this represents a dramatic improvement in the 15% contamination
rate measured by AUA in 1995.
`Although Yerevan appears to have safer water than it did seven years ago,
Ministry of Health data continue to show a 20-30% rate of bacterial
contamination in Armenia’s rural water supplies,’ stated Dr. Charles Dunlap,
Director of AUA’s Environmental Conservation and Research Center. The
panel discussion led to a commitment on improving public information on
water testing carried out by the Ministry of Health and the Yerevan Water
Company. The Ministry of Health committed to establishing a web site where
findings could be publicly available, and the Yerevan Water Company also
agreed to disseminate its data upon request.
AUA’s Environmental Research and Conservation Center has an ongoing interest
in the conservation of Armenia’s surface water quality and research into
health threats from drinking water contamination. In 2002, the Center
designed and specified the equipment and procedures for a $500,000 water
quality laboratory being built by USAID in the Ministry of Nature
Protection. In 2003, the Center constructed a scientific research laboratory
at AUA dedicated to water quality analysis. The lab is currently supporting
a project to independently assess the safety of Yerevan drinking water
samples collected from homes throughout Yerevan.
The Environmental Conservation and Research Center conducts research into
conservation, ecology, environmental contamination, and sustainable
development in the Republic of Armenia, and serves the community through
education outreach programs and collaboration with local scientists and
organizations. ECRC is funded by the generous support of Mr. Sarkis Acopian.
AUA is registered as a non-profit educational organization in both Armenia
and the United States and is affiliated with the Regents of the University
of California. Receiving major support from the AGBU, AUA offers
instruction leading to the Masters Degree in eight graduate programs. For
more information about AUA, visit or For more
information about the AUA Environmental Conservation and Research Center
visit
Picture: At AUA, environmental experts and health officials discuss Armenia
‘s water quality and safety.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

6th-round defeats pull down Pinoy chessers
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Jul 21, 2004

FILIPINO International Masters Ronald Bancod and Jayson Gonzales bowed
to their respective foes in the sixth round yesterday of the Balaguer
International Open chess championship in Balaguer, Spain.
Bancod, seeded 36th in the nine-round Swiss system event, lost to IM
Ramon Mateo of the Dominican Republic, while 25th seed Gonzales
surrendered to third seed Russian Grandmaster Vladimir Burmakin.
The defeats dropped Bancod and Gonzales-tied for second overnight-into
a share of 22nd place with 23 others, including compatriot NM Yves
Ra¤ola, with 4 points each. Ra¤ola drew his match with Spanish master
Patxi Sesma.
Mateo, Burmakin, Cuban GM Lazaro Bruzon, Bulgarian GM Aleksander
Delchev and Armenian GM Karen Movsziszian share the lead with 5 points
apiece. Marlon Bernardino

Edgar Manucharyan scored twice against Pobeda in F.Y.R. Macedonia
Wednesday, 21 July 2004
By Khachik Chakhoyan
His hero is Ronaldo and he has been compared to Romanian legend
Gheorghe Hagi, but after scoring two UEFA Champions League goals for
FC Pyunik, and topping the goalscoring charts back at home,
17-year-old striker Edgar Manucharyan is becoming a phenomenon in his
own right.
Ten goals
Last season, the striker’s 12 goals helped Pyunik win the Armenian
title, and his winning run has stretched into 2004. Aside from the two
he scored in last week’s 3-1 win against FK Pobeda in F.Y.R.
Macedonia, he has already scored ten goals in seven league starts and
three substitute appearances at home.
Meteoric rise
Manucharyan has been recognised as a player of significant talent ever
since he first kicked a ball in earnest at the age of nine. Former
USSR international and FC Ararat Yerevan midfield player Khoren
Hovhannisyan, who was named as the country’s Golden Player in the
Armenian Football Federation’s UEFA Jubilee poll, said: “I know
Manucharyan from his first steps in football.
‘Bright future’
“He played in the youth teams together with my son,” added
Hovhannisyan. “It was clear that he was very gifted from the very
first day. He is fast, and he is very determined to work to
improve. He has a bright future if he keeps on training hard and
thinks only about football.” Terrific pace Few in Armenia would
disagree with that assessment. Manucharyan’s skills are exceptional in
a player of his age and he boasts terrific pace and a great eye for
goal, as Pobeda found to their cost. He has also starred for Armenia
at Under-17, U19 and U21 levels, with a senior team call-up on the
horizon.
Leading figure
One of the top Armenian journalists, Football Plus editor-in-chief
Suren Bagdasaryan, has followed his progress closely, and said: “Edgar
is an event in Armenian football on his own. It is not often that
players like this come along. He has all a striker needs, and it is no
accident that he is a leader at Pyunik and with the national teams. If
Manucharyan maintains his professional attitude, he will become a top
class player. However, for that he will need to switch clubs.”
Going west
Certainly, that looks like the most likely option for the player. He
may harbour ambitions to play for Manchester United FC, but having had
trials with French clubs FC Girondins de Bordeaux and Olympique de
Marseille, as well as piquing the interest of United’s rivals
Manchester City FC, his future maylie elsewhere.
Level head
Pyunik president Karen Harutyunyan is convinced that a number of other
clubs are watching Manucharyan – something that the striker himself
must also have noticed. Nonetheless he remains patient. “Right now I
am Pyunik’s forward, so I hope to help my team,” he told uefa.com back
in November 2003.
Next challenge
His next chance to do so will come in the home leg of the tie against
Pobeda as Pyunik aim to earn a second qualifying round tie against
Ukrainian giants FC Shakhtar Donetsk. And Pyunik coach Vardan Minasyan
is certainly not ruling out the prospect of more goals for Manucharyan
in Yerevan.
‘Top form’
“He is on top of his form and rarely leaves a pitch without scoring a
goal,” said the coach. “He helped us to beat Pobeda in the first leg
by scoring twice and making an assist. There are very few players of
such talent in Armenia, and you can already call this lad the finished
item.” If he continues to develop at his current rate, the world will
soon be forced to agree.
©uefa.com 1998-2004.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Federal Information and News Dispatch, Inc.
State Department
July 20, 2004
Millennium Challenge Corporation Board of Directors Meeting Open
Session
TEXT: Secretary Colin L. Powell
Harry S Truman Building Room 1107
July 20, 2004
(10:00 a.m. EDT)
SECRETARY POWELL:Good morning, everyone. It’s my great pleasure to
call the meeting to order and to welcome all of you to this regular
meeting of the Board of Directors of the Millennium Challenge
Corporation. I see that we have a quorum of directors present so we
can begin our business.
Let me begin by welcoming our two newest members, and the first two
outside members of the Millennium Challenge Corporation Board,
Christine Todd Whitman and Kenneth Hackett. Both of them were
nominated by the President in June and confirmed by the Senate just
last week and sworn in by me seven and a half minutes ago.
(Laughter.) So we are very pleased to have them both here. And as
most of you know, Christie Whitman previously served as Administrator
of the Environmental Protection Agency and as Governor of the State
of New Jersey. Ken Hackett currently serves as President of Catholic
Relief Services, where he oversees important relief and development
operations around the world. And we are very fortunate to have two
such respected and gifted individuals on the board and we certainly
look forward to their contributions.
And so, on behalf of President Bush and all of the members of the
Millennium Challenge Corporation team, I’d like to welcome them both
to the Board of Directors.
Before we get started on Board business, I wanted to note that due to
the limited time available for a public session today and to give
interested members of the public an opportunity to ask some questions
of the Millennium Challenge Corporation management, MCC will be
holding a public outreach session at GSA on Tuesday, July 27th, next
week, at 10:30 a.m.
At that session members of the MCC management team would like to
update you on their trips to the 16 MCA-eligible countries and other
recent developments and then take your questions. I understand, by
the way, that the country trips were very positive and productive.
The reports that I have received back from Paul and our embassies
certainly give me reason for optimism, so I would encourage you to
attend the outreach session next week.
Let’s now move along to the first item of business, the approval of
the minutes of the Open Session of the May 6th Board Meeting. All of
us have had a chance to review the minutes of the Open Session of the
May 6th Board Meeting, which are included in your Board books. At Tab
1 is a resolution to approve these minutes and certify that they
accurately reflect the proceedings at that portion of the meeting.
If there are no questions or comments, do I have a motion to adopt
the resolution at Tab 1?
A PARTICIPANT: So moved.
SECRETARY POWELL: A second, please?
A PARTICIPANT: Second.
SECRETARY POWELL: All in favor?
(Chorus of ayes.)
SECRETARY POWELL: The resolution is adopted. We will now move on to
the next item of business, a report on MCC operations by Chief
Executive Officer Paul Applegarth. Paul.
MR. APPLEGARTH: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good afternoon. I’m pleased
to provide the Board an update on the work of the Corporation since
our last Board meeting. Because of limited time today, my report will
be a summary, with the idea that we will report in greater detail and
answer questions at next week’s public Board meeting.
For those of you who didn’t write down all the details of where the
meeting will be, they will be available on the MCC website shortly.
Also I want to, despite the best of planning efforts over a couple
months to keep calendars free, both Secretary Snow and Administrator
Natsios had to be out of town today unavoidably. Accordingly, I want
to recognize, in addition to our two new board members, Deputy
Secretary of the Treasury Bodman and Deputy Administrator of AID Fred
Schieck, who are here today.
At its basic Board meeting, the Board did two significant things. One
was to select the first 16 countries as eligible for MCC assistance
and to improve the establishment of a threshold program. Implementing
programs and policies related to those decisions has been the focus
of much of MCC’s operational activities for the last two and a half
months.
Immediately after the Board meeting, eligible countries were informed
of their status by each U.S. Ambassador to each — in their country
and we had a meeting for the ambassadors of the selected countries.
In addition, President Bush held a ceremony in the East Room of the
White House to recognize and congratulate the representatives of the
MCC-eligible countries. This event was attended by members of the
Board, Congress, senior White House officials and a number of NGOs
and members of the public who have been instrumental in helping to
create the MCA.
Following an intense period of preparation, MCC then sent five teams
to visit all the 16 countries at the end of May and early June,
departing within ten days of the last Board meeting. There were five
purposes for these trips: first was to congratulate the countries for
being selected; two, to invite the submission of a proposal; three,
review the three core tests that MCC will use in evaluating
proposals, i.e., will the countries’ proposed program lead to poverty
reduction, to sustained economic growth, were the countries’
priorities determined through a consultative process, and what
additional policy commitments will the selected countries make to
continue the policy reform process; the fourth purpose of the trips
was to communicate MCC’s message broadly in the country through
meetings with government officials, members of parliament, political
leaders, NGOs, the private sector, other donors and civil society
leaders; and finally, to conduct an aggressive grassroots
communication and public diplomacy strategy, including press
conferences and radio and TV interviews to alert the people in
selected countries of the country’s selection as an MCC country,
highlight the United States involvement and encourage them to
participate in the consultative process to develop their country’s
priorities.
Before going, we also spent a lot of time with our U.S. key partners
at USAID, State and Treasury, and I want to thank the Board members
for the administration for making their staffs available to assist
with our trips. They did provide an enormous amount of assistance
that was critical to our preparation, as did staff at the World Bank,
the IMF and elsewhere in the U.S. Government.
You will hear more next week, but I will say there are a number of
common experiences among the teams that visited countries. First, we
were received at the highest levels in every country, the president
and prime minister in virtually every case. Secondly, the countries
were uniformly proud of being recognized for their achievements.
Third, they were very enthusiastic about the concept of country
ownership, particularly after they understood the flexibility being
offered to them to set the strategic directions of their proposal.
I’ll give you a couple of examples of the impact that we had. A
senior official in Armenia stated that Armenia’s inclusion in the
program had made the country much more focused on matters of
governing, governance, democracy, the rule of law and human rights.
Another official said that because of the consultative process
officials better understood the urgency of problems in rural areas
and that their proposals had been affected by these consultations.
That’s exactly what we’re aiming for through the consultative
process. The State Secretary for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in
Mongolia said Mongolia’s selection as an MCC-eligible country had
paved the way for a new form of relations between Mongolia and the
United States. And the Prime Minister of Cape Verde stated that the
selection of Cape Verde for the MCA was the third most significant
achievement for the country, behind its independence from Portugal in
1975 and the democratic transition in 1991. That’s fairly — in terms
of priority, what can I say? He said it all.
We are clearly now moving into a new phase of MCC operations. The
timing of initial proposal submission for each country will be
different because the specifics of proposal development are unique to
each country. To predict a timeline going forward is difficult at
this time in terms of when we’ll complete the first compacts. It is
clear as we’ve encouraged countries to take time to get their
proposals right — actually, there’s no question that our visits
probably slowed down the submission process, but for good reasons.
First, I think these countries recognize their flexibility under the
program. They wanted to stop, take stock and rethink about how they
could really use this new resource. And secondly, the consultative
process.
Other activities we’ve been quite involved in have been the compact
evaluation process, preparing it and getting ready for receipt of the
first compact proposals; secondly, detailed planning for the
implementation of the threshold program, working together with AID;
and then preparing for really the agenda of this Board meeting, which
is the candidate — beginning the candidate country selection process
for 2005.
We’ve also spent a lot of time on outreach. In terms of outreach,
we’ve spent a considerable amount of time on Capitol Hill meeting
with the members and their staff in an effort to keep interested
members up to date on MCC activities. I have testified before the
HIRC and House Appropriations Foreign Operations Subcommittee in
preparation for their deliberations. As you know, the House did pass
an appropriation bill that included $1.25 billion for ’05. We are
working to get it back — the amount up to the President’s original
request of $2.5 billion, but we do appreciate the leadership and
support of Chairman Kolbe and the bipartisan support that MCC enjoys.
We continue actively to participate in a number of outreach efforts
with NGOs and business groups and to seek opportunities for these
discussions. Developing awareness of MCC with international donors
has also been a priority. We should mention Andrew Natsios invited me
to participate in a meeting of development ministers that he was
hosting following the G-8. This meeting provided an excellent
opportunity for us to meet with the leadership of the donor community
and to introduce them to MCC and what MCC is trying to do. And I do
appreciate Andrew’s efforts to include MCC in this important meeting.
And as I mentioned previously, we are holding another public outreach
meeting next week.
In the midst of all this, it’s sometimes difficult to forget we’re
still a startup. If we can find the time, we will celebrate our
six-month birthday at the end of this week. And from an
administrative perspective, we continue to build the infrastructure
to support the implementation of MCC, including things like phones,
security systems, temporary office construction and ultimately
finding a permanent headquarters.
In terms of staffing, we’ve gone from a team of roughly eight people
at the end of January to a little over 40 today, and we continue to
build out the team. We have also continued to put in place financial
and administrative procedures. The administrative staff visited
Denver to further develop financial management and budgeting systems
with our vendor, the National Business Center at the Department of
the Interior. And, actually, we were joined on this trip by a
representative of the Inspector Generals Office.
As I mention the Inspector General, I should say in terms of
oversight, we have had extensive discussions with Hill staff, the GAO
and the Inspector General staff. We recognize the need for this
transparency and see as important strategically in terms of building
confidence of what we are about. As a startup particularly and
without demonstrable results in terms of results of our compacts for
a couple years, it’s very important that everyone have full
confidence in what we are doing and how we are doing it.
In short, I would like to say it’s been a quite busy two and a half
months since our last meeting. We’ve made considerable progress and
still have a lot to do. We look forward to receiving the proposals
from MCC countries, working to the selection of the ’05 countries and
ultimately moving closer to our goal of reducing poverty through
growth in some of the poorest countries of the world.
Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
SECRETARY POWELL: Thank you very much, Paul, and my congratulations
to you and the members of the MCC staff for the great work that you
have been doing in recent months. I always have to remind audiences
that I speak to about the Millennium Challenge Corporation and the
Account, that this has gone from a line in the President’s State of
the Union Address in January of last year in less than 18 months —
quite a few weeks less than 18 months — to a complete program, the
chartering of a corporation, the development of a board, the creation
of a staff, pushing the appropriation through the Congress, all that
is required to set up a new and rather unique organization that is
out of government but also connected to the government and enjoying
one of the President’s highest priorities. And by governmental
standards, this is a pretty rapid rate of progress and reflects a lot
of hard work on the part of Paul, Al Larson before Paul, and so many
others, and I appreciate that work.
I might just add one other word about the Millennium Challenge
Corporation. The 16 nations that were selected have all been very,
very pleased with their selection and I received all kinds of nice
letters and phone calls and visitors. And they come in and they give
me all their promises of what they’re going to do, and I said that’s
fine because we’re entering into a compact, a contract, and if you
want this funding and if you want it to continue, and you want it to
be multiyear, if you want us to stick with you, you’ve got to get
better every year with respect to these basic tests of democracy and
openness and economic freedom and end of corruption and the rule of
law. You’ve got to get better.
Of greater interest, however, are the delegations and letters and
phone calls I received from the countries that were not selected but
who are potential candidates. And those calls are of a slightly
different nature, or when they sit in my office and they look across
at me and they say, “What did we do wrong or what is it we have to do
right to get into this game?” And it’s very simple and we lay it out
for them. And they say if you do these things, then you will enhance
your prospects of being selected. And we’re going to get more money
in ’05 and we’re going to get even more money in ’06. So this is the
most significant development program since the Marshall Plan, and you
can be a recipient, you can work out a compact with us, but you’ve
got to do the right things.
The other point I would make is that this is all being done not at
the expense of our normal development assistance programs; in fact,
if you look at the record of the Administration over the last three
and a half years, there has been growth in AID spending and other
kinds of development assistance spending, and on top of that you have
this unique Millennium Challenge approach to development assistance.
And not development assistance for the purpose of keeping people on
the dole forever, but for the purpose of creating conditions in those
countries so they will start to attract investment and trade —
non-aid. It’s not for the purpose of giving them aid forever. This is
the purpose of putting them on a solid footing so that they will
attract investment and trade and get off aid, and we can use the
Millennium Challenge Account money in future years for other
countries that have met the test.
We will be talking about threshold funding. There are a number of
countries that were getting closer and they may need a little walking
around — no, I won’t call it that. (Laughter.) They need a little
help. And that’s what the threshold program is for, to give them a
little help and bring them along, make sure they understand what’s
going to be required of them, make sure they understand the demanding
nature of the tests that they will be asked to take and pass.
So I must say that, at least from my personal perspective as Chairman
of this Corporation, as well as Secretary of State, I can say that
I’m very pleased and I know the President is very pleased at the
progress that we have seen so far, but it is nothing compared to the
progress that we hope to see in the future.
With that, I would now like to move to close the open portion of the
meeting, not to cut off dialogue and debate because you’ll have that
opportunity with Paul and the staff next week, but we have to discuss
a few matters such as the ’05 country selection process, which has to
be closed because of the confidential nature of discussions and use
of classified information, and we also have to discuss some internal
personnel matters.
Members of the Board, in your Board books at Tab 2 is a resolution to
approve the closing of the meeting at this time. If there are no
questions or comments about the resolution, do I have a motion to
adopt the resolution at Tab 2?
A PARTICIPANT: So moved.
SECRETARY POWELL: Second, please?
A PARTICIPANT: Second.
SECRETARY POWELL: All in favor?
(Chorus of ayes.)
SECRETARY POWELL: Thank you very much. The resolution is adopted and
the open session of the meeting is adjourned. Please join me all
upstairs, members