CACI FORUM

IMF Economic Outlook on Caucasus and Central Asia: Structural Transformation Needed

Wednesday, 30 November 2016, from 5 to 7 p.m.

Light reception with Georgian wines at 5; main program at 5:30 

A decline in commodity prices and slowing in key economic partners such as Russia and China, had a significant impact on the countries of Central Asia and the South Caucasus. Regional growth is projected to average only 1.3 percent this year, representing a dramatic decrease in economic activity compared with growth rates of the early 2000s. According to the IMF, next year the region's economies should turn a corner, with average growth reaching 2.6 percent. Medium-term prospects remain weak, however, with growth projected to average 4 percent in the 2018–21 period, half that in 2000–14.

These and other important economic topics will be discussed as part of the Regional Economic Outlook Report, the latest IMF release on the Caucasus and Central Asia. The special focus of this year's presentation is Kazakhstan: the discussion will review this country's macroeconomic and structural policy response to shocks that began in late 2014, and will examine prospects for the medium term.

Speakers:

Juha Kahkonen, Deputy Director, Middle East and Central Asia Dept., IMF

Mark Horton, Mission Chief, Kazakhstan, IMF

Moderator:

Mamuka Tsereteli, Research Director, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute

Rome Building Auditorium
SAIS - Johns Hopkins University
1619 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC  20036

Click here to RSVP and register

Svante E. Cornell, Johan Engvall and S. Frederick Starr

November, 2016, pp. 66

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CACI FORUM

Heart of Asia Business Partnerships,
from the Black Sea to Mongolia

Tuesday, 1 Nov. 2016, from 5 to 7 p.m.
(reception with Georgian wine at 5 p.m.; program at 5:30)

In this CACI forum, eleven participants from the Fall 2016 Rumsfeld Fellowship program, representing eight countries, will discuss INNOVATIVE EMERGING regional business partnerships in Central Asia and the Caucasus.  
 

A video recording of this forum can now be viewed on the SAIS Events YouTube channel.

Moderated by  S. Frederick Starr, Chairman, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute

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CACI FORUM

Afghanistan: What Does the Future Hold?

Thursday, 3 Nov. 2016, from 5 to 7 p.m. 

(reception with Georgian wine at 5 p.m.; main program at 5:30)

This CACI forum presents three of its Afghan colleagues, all of them recipients of the Rumsfeld Fellowship. With one a senior official in President Ghani's office, the second the head of Afghanistan's largest TV network, and the third from the Afghan private sector with military background, they are well positioned to speak about their country's future, its security, its politics, and the views of its citizens.  

Speakers:

Mr. Zafar Hashemi
Deputy Spokesman to the President of Afghanistan
 
Mr. Lotfullah Najafizada
Award-winning journalist and Director of TOLOnews (Afghanistan’s top 24/7 news and current affairs television channel)
 
Mr. Sami Sadat
CEO, Blue Sea Logistics Company
Military and Security Expert
 
Moderated by  S. Frederick Starr, Chairman, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute

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The Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and 
the Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan invite you:

Update from Tashkent: A Conversation
with Senator Sodiq Safoev, Сhairman of the Committee for Foreign Relations of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan

Thursday, Oct. 20, 2016, from noon to 1:30 p.m. 

Important developments are under way in Uzbekistan. With national elections impending on December 4, and fresh initiatives already taken in areas as diverse as policy reforms, business, and international relations, Uzbekistan has entered a vital new phase.

Senator Safoev served as Ambassador to Washington from 1996 to 2001, where he was warmly received, and subsequently was Minister of Foreign Affairs and Rector of the University of World Economy and Diplomacy in Tashkent. He was elected to the Senate in 2010. Additionally, he worked as the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs; as Special Representative of the President of Uzbekistan in Afghanistan; as Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Germany; and as Chief Consultant and Head of the Department of International Economic Relations under the presidential administration.

Moderated by Svante Cornell, Director, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute

Lunch (Uzbek cuisine) will be served.

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