The Trans-Caspian Trade and Transit Corridor is a regional integrator, trade facilitator, and viable transit connector between Europe and Asia. Comprising of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey to the west, and Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan to the east of the Caspian Sea, this corridor brings together a market more than 200 million strong with $400 billion in overall trade while connecting the economies of the European Union and China along with providing increasingly important access to Russia, the Middle East, Pakistan, and India.
Connecting trade, people and economies, the modern Trans-Caspian corridor has matured to strategic importance with an extensive and integrated network of infrastructure, special economic zones, harmonized customs/cross-border procedures, and more along this route.
The United States has been playing an important role in developing this corridor, including through joint initiatives to increase regional connectivity via oil and gas pipelines such as the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the Southern Gas Corridor, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway and Lapis-Lazuli transport route, and the “C5+1” format. While these initiatives contributed to the increased business between the United States and the countries of the corridor, the overall emerging business potential of the corridor is under-explored and trade with the United States is significantly lagging behind the EU and China.
Building on the strategic partnerships forged between the USA and the corridor countries concerned and the region’s growing business opportunities, the Trans-Caspian Forum presents a leading platform to discuss the U.S. engagement with the strategically important Trans-Caspian corridor, including investments and development of strategic infrastructure for benefiting the United States, the corridor countries and the business community.
Policy and business leaders from the United States and the Trans-Caspian corridor countries will come together at the 5th Trans-Caspian Forum on April 15 – 17, 2020 to discuss opportunities and challenges in enhancing their strategic engagement and explore business, trade, and investment opportunities to the benefit of all concerned.
The Caspian Policy Center and the Embassies of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan, are the co-organizers of the Forum, hosted by the Heritage Foundation.
Special Roundtable – Agribusiness in the Greater Trans-Caspian Region
An essential sector of Trans-Caspian economies, agriculture is at a critical point of transformation and modernization. Gradually shifting from self-sufficiency to an export orientation, Trans-Caspian governments and businesses search for ways to tap agricultural export markets to capitalize on their respective comparative advantages. To succeed in that endeavor and maximize their agricultural potential, however, the region must overcome various challenges pertaining to the legacy Soviet infrastructure and the rapidly approaching future of changing resource availability.
08:30 – 09:00 am Registration and Breakfast
09:00 – 09:10 am Opening Remarks
08:30 – 09:00 am Registration and Breakfast
09:00 – 09:10 am Opening Remarks
09:10 – 10:00 am Panel 1 – Effective Use of Agriculture Resources
- Addressing Water Scarcity through Management and Conservation
- Tuning Response to Market Demand
- Diversification of Marketing Channels
- Incentivizing Productivity and Investment
10:00 – 10:05 am Break
10:05 – 10:55 am Panel 2 – Tapping Agricultural Export Markets
- Developing Market Infrastructure
- Facilitating Market Intelligence and Clusters Approach
- Entering Profitable Value Chains
10:55 – 11:00 am Closing Remarks
08:30 – 09:00 am Registration and breakfast
09:00 – 09:10 am Opening Remarks : Caspian Policy Center Executive Director Efgan Nifti and Heritage Foundation Representative
09:10 – 09:35 am Ambassadorial Welcome Remarks
- Afghanistan, Roya Rahmani
- Azerbaijan, Elin Suleymanov
- Georgia, David Bakradze
- Kazakhstan, Erzhan Kazykhanov
- Turkey, Serdar Kılıç
- Tajikistan, Farhod Salim
- Uzbekistan, Javlon Vakhabov
09:35 – 09:55 am Keynote Statement - High level officials from the U.S. Government
- Keith Krach, Undersecretary for Economic Growth, Energy and Environment, Department of State, United States (invited)
- Ambassador Alice Wells, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, U.S. Department of State (invited)
- Laura Cooper, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia, United States (invited)
09:55 – 11:15 am Panel 1 - Ministerial Roundtable: U.S.-Caspian Emerging Partnership
- Afghanistan, Ministerial level representative
- Azerbaijan, Ministerial level representative
- Georgia, Ministerial level representative
- Kazakhstan, Ministerial level representative
- Tajikistan, Ministerial level representative
- Turkey, Ministerial level representative
- Uzbekistan, Ministerial level representative
Moderator: Ambassador (ret.) Richard Hoagland, Board of Directors Member, Caspian Policy Center
11:15 – 11:30 am Coffee Break
11:30 – 01:00 pm Panel 2 - Linking the Trans Caspian and Eurasia through Hard and Soft Infrastructure Development
Panel Speakers
- Adam Boehler, Chief Executive Officer, U.S. International Development Finance Corpo-ration (invited)
- Ian Steff, Assistant Secretary for Global Markets and Director General of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service, U.S. Department of Commerce (invited)
- Kairat Kelimbetov, Governor, Astana International Financial Center (invited)
- Senior government/company representatives from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan
Moderator: Efgan Nifti, Executive Director, Caspian Policy Center
01:00 – 02:00 pm Lunch
02:00 – 03:20 pm Panel 3 - Trans Caspian as a Global Hub for Energy Supplies, Security, and Sustainability
- Frank Fannon, Assistant Secretary for Energy Resources, U.S. Department of State
- Robert Scher, Head of International Affairs, BP (invited)
- Elshad Nassirov, Vice-President, SOCAR (invited)
- Senior Representative, BOTAŞ
- Senior Representative, KazMunayGas
- Senior government/company representatives from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan
Moderator: Ambassador (ret.) Robert Cekuta, Board of Directors Member, Caspian Policy Center
03:20 – 03:35 pm Coffee Break
03:35 – 05:00 pm No Events
05:00 – 07:00 pm Exclusive Reception on U.S.-Caspian Relations, hosted at the Caspian Policy Center, 11th floor (separate registration – up to 60)
Special Roundtable — Fostering Innovation and Entrepreneurship Ecosystems in the Trans-Caspian Region
Start-ups and entrepreneurship in tourism, telecommunications, information technology, medical care, and other areas offer intriguing prospects for future growth. Getting the environment right to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship is key as is learning from the experience of others in the region.
8:30 – 9:00 am Registration and Breakfast
9:00 – 9:30 am Opening Remarks
9:30 – 10:30 am Panel 1 – Systems for Nurturing Innovation
Panel of government and private sector speakers addressing conditions conducive to entrepreneurship and innovation, including:
- Finance
- Legal/regulatory/government conditions and actions
- Education
- Positive public perceptions towards entrepreneurs and innovation
10:30 – 10:50 am Break
10:50 – 12:00 pm Panel 2 – Case Studies from the Trans-Caspian Region
Speakers from U.S. firms and companies in the Caspian region drawing on their specific experiences to discuss what does and does not encourage innovation/start-ups. Sectors of focus:
- Information Technology
- Tourism
- Medicine
- Telecommunications
12:00 – 1:00 pm Networking Lunch
TRANS-CASPIAN FORUM 2019
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