CONFERENCES

Roundtable on Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative held in Azerbaijan
April 5th, the Public Finance Monitoring Centre joined other NGOs in a meeting with oil fund director Samir Sharifov to discuss the country's progress on its commitments under the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, and the role that civil society can play in monitoring the government's progress.

CASPIAN REVENUE WATCH: INTERNATIONAL LAUNCH CONFERENCES
In an effort to raise awareness about and stimulate discussion about the challenges of managing windfall revenues in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, and other extractive sector countries, the Caspian Revenue Watch was launched at conferences in Washington, London, Brussels, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. Presentations made at these conferences appear below in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.

Washington DC: May 12, 2003
A conference sponsored by the Center for Strategic International Studies and the Open Society Institute.
   • Agenda
     Transcript of Meetings:
   • Introduction and Welcome
   • Findings and Recommendations of the Caspian Revenue Watch
   • Keynote Address by George Soros
   • Petroleum, Governance, and Development Beyond the Caspian
   • Government Plans and Challenges in Managing Petroleum Wealth
   • CSIS Newsletter May/June 2003

Baku: May 29, 2003
A conference sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Development Foundation and the Open Society Institute.
   • Azerbaijan: Managing Oil Revenues
       Michael Mered, IMF Resident Representative, Azerbaijan
   • Sustainable Development in Azerbaijan & the World Bank's Perspective
       Saida Bagirova, External Affairs Officer & NGO Liaison, World Bank, Azerbaijan
   • Reflections on Alaska's Experience with Petroleum Development
       Richard A. Fineberg, Independent Consultant
   • The Norwegian Government Petroleum Fund: Background and Challenges
       Carl J. Vogt, Vice President, Norges Bank Investment Management
   • Presentation to the Baku Conference
       Svetlana Tsalik, Director, Caspian Revenue Watch, OSI
   • Management of Oil Revenues as a Pre-condition for Institutional Reform
       Ingilab Akhmedov, dirTrend Information Agency
   • Contributing to Wealth Management
       Andrew McAuslan, Commercial Manager, BTC Project, BP Azerbaijan

Almaty: June 2, 2003
A conference sponsored by the Public Policy Resource Center and the Open Society Institute.
   • Agenda
   • List of Participants
   • Presentation by Svetlana Tsalik, Director, Caspian Revenue Watch, OSI
   • The Functioning of the National Fund of the Republic of Kazakhstan
       Daniyar Akishev, Deputy Director of the Department, The National Bank of Kazakhstan
   • Selected Issues on Oil Revenue Management and Use
       Dennis de Tray, Central Asia Regional Director, World Bank
   • PPRC Newsletter
       (In Russian)

"Can the Caspian Avoid the Oil Curse?"
London: June 11, 2003
A conference sponsored by the Foreign Policy Center and the Open Society Institute.
   • Presentation by Svetlana Tsalik, Director, Caspian Revenue Watch, OSI
   • Management of Oil Revenues as a Pre-condition for Institutional Reform
       Ingilab Akhmedov
       Public Finance Policy Center
       Director, IAA Trend
   • The Norwegian Experience: Lessons for the Caspian Region?
       Leiv Lunde, ECON Analysis

"Caspian Oil: EU Interests and Concerns"
Brussels: June 13, 2003
A conference sponsored by the European Policy Center and the Open Society Institute.
   • Presentation by Svetlana Tsalik, Director, Caspian Revenue Watch, OSI
   • Management of Oil Revenues as a Pre-condition for Institutional Reform
       Ingilab Akhmedov
       Director, IAA Trend
       Presentation to Baku Conference
   • Caspian Oil: EU Interests and Concerns
       Communication To Members S35/03
       European Policy Center Dialogue
   • Caspian Oil Windfalls: Will They See the Benefits?
       Powerpoint Presentation by Willy H Olsen, Senior Advisor, Statoil

OSI-RELATED EVENTS

Memorandum of understanding between OSI-AF and BP
On April 22, 2004, Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation (Azerbaijan) and British oil giant BP announced that they have signed this agreement, under which OSI will co-ordinate monitoring of the BTC pipeline construction by NGOs in Azerbaijan.

Escaping the Resource Curse: Managing Natural-Resource Revenues in Low-Income Countries
This February 24 event, hosted by the Center on Globalization and Sustainable Development of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, was sponsored by the Open Society Institute.

WORKSHOPS

Lessons Learned and Future Directions in Budget and Revenue Monitoring
On April 24-25, 2004, Revenue Watch, the International Budget Project and the Center for Policy Studies held this workshop to determine what we can learn from the experiences of budget advocates that can help enhance the policy influence of (existing and potential) natural resource monitoring groups (specializing in oil and gas revenues monitoring).

Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz at the "Covering Resource Wealth" journalism training. Click the photo to expand.

2003 JOURNALISM TRAINING
In November, 2003, Revenue Watch is co-sponsoring two workshops on "Covering Resource Wealth," with the aim of helping reporters strengthen their understanding of the effect that oil wealth has on development and the importance of corporate governance.
  • November 16, 17 and 18: Almaty
    Read Almaty agenda
    Day 1 Press Release: November 17, 2003
        
    Joseph Stiglitz: Natural resources are not always a curse for their owners (in Russian) - Navigator

  • November 19, 20 and 21: Baku
    Read Baku agenda
    Overview Press Release: November 19, 2003
    Day 1 Press Release: November 19, 2003
    Day 2 Press Release: November 20, 2003
    Day 3 Press Release: November 21, 2003