Steve Peacock's U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor

Federal Project Seeks to Strengthen Pension Systems

The Obama administration is embarking upon a project to ensure that pension systems across the nation are “fiscally sound and sustainable.”  And elderly citizens of the nation of Armenia likely will be delighted to hear the news.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) yesterday issued a presolicitation notice alerting interested contractors about the initiative, a “technical assistance” endeavor that will assist the Government of Armenia in making its new multi-pillar pension system “fiscally sound and sustainable.”

The intended outcome of the effort is “an increase in the percentage of economically active citizens who contribute to the pension resources,” according to the notice.

USAID also will help the Armenians to create an Integrated Social Services system (ISS), which will enable the Armenian Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, in conjunction with “the private sector and civil society, to implement the pension reform and to improve social services policy, benefits, and delivery systems.”

“Also, these activities will ensure that the pension system is well-managed, regulated, and supervised according to international standards and best practices,” the notice continued.

USAID did not disclose the project’s estimated cost.

U.S. Crafting New Economic Recovery Plan

The damage caused by the global financial crisis requires additional federal intervention, according to the Obama Administration, which is launching a new program to “foster growth and stability at a time of increasing economic turmoil.” This particular endeavor, however, will focus its efforts on improving conditions in Eastern Europe, the Western Balkans, and the “newly independent states,” or NIS, of the former Soviet Union.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is designing this Europe & Eurasia (E&E) regional project in order to “promote trade, investment and regulatory integration; enhance regional competitiveness, and support financial sector stability.”

The agency did not disclose an estimated cost of the program, which remains under development. It is conducting market research of potential contractors capable of carrying out services in the region. USAID may—or may not—release a more detailed solicitation at a later date.

If indeed it executes this project, USAID will target thirteen nations where USAID already has established a presence, “including the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia), Western NIS (Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus), Russia, and the Caucasus (Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan).

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According to a Sources Sought Notice that U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor located via routine database research:

Despite the tremendous progress made over the years, many of these countries are still struggling to regain the living standards that they enjoyed under communism and to integrate themselves into the ever more competitive world economy.  Furthermore, the region has been disproportionately adversely affected by the 2008-2009 global economic crisis and, now, by the ongoing Eurozone financial crisis… Several countries in the region have unemployment rates above 20%, labor productivity remains well below the EU standards, and export growth rates have stagnated. 

The four “principal technical areas” for which contractors may provide services include:

            1. Regional Trade Facilitation;  

            2. Private Sector Competitiveness and Enterprise Development;

            3. Business Enabling Environment (meaning, support of “legal and regulatory reform and rule of law issues”); and:

            4. Financial Sector Stability, Growth & Inclusion.

USAID will accept capability statements from interested providers until June 11 at 2 p.m.

Source document: Solicitation #M-OAA-GRO-LMA-12-1002

FOR ADDITIONAL REPORTING ON THE U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, SEE THE MONITOR'S USAID PAGE.

FOR FURTHER REGIONAL COVERAGE, SEE THE MONITOR'S EUROPE PAGE.

OTHER NATION-SPECIFIC MONITOR PAGES ARE EMBEDDED WITHIN THE ABOVE ARTICLE.

U.S. Government Plans Tax-Reform Initiative...

... in Armenia.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) said this week that it expects to award an estimated $5-10 million, four-year contract to assist the Armenian government in the areas of:

(a) revenue policy formulation, strategic planning, revenue analysis and tax policy review and simplification; and the appeals policies, procedures and implementation carried out by the Ministry of Finance and

(b) improving the SRC strategic planning, human resource management and internal control processes to better administer taxes and to enhance taxpayer trust and compliance. [emphasis added]

USAID intends to release a more detailed Request for Proposals at an unspecified date.

Source document: Solicitation #SOL-111-12-000001.

ALSO SEE THE MONITOR'S USAID PAGE FOR ADDITIONAL COVERAGE OF THE U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT.

U.S. Seeks New Means of Predicting Internet Growth Overseas, from Albania to Zimbabwe

The U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) is looking for a contractor capable of developing a new analytical model to predict Internet usage and growth in thirty-two foreign nations, from "A" (Albania) to "Z" (Zimbabwe).

The agency, which runs U.S. government-funded international broadcasting systems such as Voice of America and Radio Sawa and Alhurra Television of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, said in a Statement of Work (Solicitation #BBG50-R-11-0020) that existing models for predicting growth are inadequate. The SOW said those models solely focus on specific technology sectors rather than the Internet in its entirety:

The ultimate goal is to estimate, using empirical data, the expansion of the number of unique individuals using the Internet on a weekly basis in these markets over the next five years. While various organizations have produced such estimates and prejections for sub-segments of the Internet market, such as mobile Internet use or fixed line broadband, BBG requires estimates of the growth of the entire Internet market, regardless of platform, including use via public access facilities.

Although the BBG attempted to justifiy why it wants a new predictive model, it did not specify why it needs -- nor what it intends to do -- with such a new mode of analysis. The agency said it would apply the model to Internet usage in the following nations: Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Cameroon, China, Egypt, Georgia, Ghana, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, Vietnam,  Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The BBG said the selected contractor should be able to complete the work within an eight-week period. It did not offer an estimated cost of the project.