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

House Tells Russia to Get Out of Georgia, While Quietly Building Up UAE Presence

 
The U.S. House of Representatives this week condemned the Russian Federation's occupation of disputed land in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, which the Russians bombed in 2008 and whose Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions remain occupied (see the above video statement from House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-FL).

What the U.S. government is playing down, however, is the fact that the Obama administration simultaneously is helping to finance power infrastructure projects in Georgia that directly benefit U.S. ally United Arab Emirates, whose Ras al-Khaimah monarchy controls a sprawling industrial complex undergoing expansion on the Black Sea coast.

As this writer reported this week via WND:

Although the Obama administration claims U.S.-funded power infrastructure projects in the nation of Georgia will boost energy security and stability in the former Soviet republic, WND has uncovered corollary beneficiaries of this foreign assistance: Arab royals...

However, the agency is not advertising the fact that one of the United Arab Emirates monarchies manages the zone. Indeed, Poti FIZ is an investment project of the Ras al-Khaimah Investment Authority, also known as RAKIA...

The latest USAID action undertaken under the GIPT program was an $18 million contract awarded earlier this month to rebuild a stretch of power lines and substations that ultimately will benefit the zone... USAID additionally intends to provide an unspecified level of financial support to build a 47-kilometer natural-gas pipeline [See: "Arab royals profit from U.S. power project"].

It must be noted that the UAE's presence is made possible under a business agreement with the Government of Georgia, whereas the Russian presence is by military aggression.

Ros-Lehtinen also said of the Russo-Georgian controversy, "“Russia’s aggression against Georgia poses a threat to the security of the entire region.  This resolution sends a strong message that Russian actions and continued military presence in these areas are unacceptable and must end immediately.”

The House approved H.Res. 526 by voice vote.

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.

USAID Dumping $50 Million into Central Asia Trade & Reform Project

$50 million in contracts recently were awarded to four vendors under an initiative that seeks to promote economic growth in Central Asia, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) revealed today. Contracting documents indicate that the program will benefit "failed states" that have poor banking and other economic policies and institutions: 

"A wealthier, healthier and more stable Central Asia will be characterized by increasing trade and investment between countries among which economic interests are aligned. It will also be characterized by the establishment of mutually beneficial commercial ties with neighboring countries such as Russia and China."

The $50 million figure encompasses an estimated ceiling for the Macroeconomic Foundations for Growth program (Solicitation #SOL-176-11-00000-2), for which the agency awarded indefinite quantity contracts, or IQCs, to Chemonics International, Inc., Deloitte Consulting, LLP, Pragma Corporation, and AECOM International Development. The vendors each will receive an unspecified number of  "task orders" over five years, during which time they could execute a variety of potential initiatives in the nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Chemonics, Deloitte, Pragma, and AECOM will provide training, research, and technical and advisory services that USAID hopes "will improve the macro environment for business enterprise formation and growth, trade, and domestic and foreign investment" in Central Asia.  The project will seek to accomplish those goals through:

1) Legal and institutional reform;

2) Financial sector reform and expansion;

3) Economic policy and institutions development;

4) Trade and investment, and:

5) Addressing exogenous shocks, assistance to ease the adjustment to exogenous economic and financial shocks that cause short and medium-term development problems affecting the national business environment and potential to generate economic growth.

6) Stabilization – Crisis Assistance Projects.

Although USAID technically awarded the contracts on July 1, the agency did not announce them via the Federal Business Opportunities database until July 11.

NOAA Seeks Contractors to Study Russian Fishing Fleets in Bering Sea

The impact of Russian fishing fleets on the Steller Sea Lion currently is unknown—but the U.S. government is aiming to find out. Consequently, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) this week issued Request for Proposals (Solicitation #NMFS_RFQ_AKR110607G) seeking contractors capable of carrying out such a study in Russian waters of the Western Bering Sea. NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service hopes to identify the mortality rate of the sea lions related to Russian fishery practices in that region.

According to background information in the RFP:

Steller sea lions are listed as threatened (eastern stock) and endangered (western stock) under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Steller sea lions range across the North Pacific Ocean rim from Japan, Russia, and in the USA from Alaska to central California. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), through its groundfish observer program, conducts research on the interaction between Steller sea lions, other marine mammals, and sea birds, and the U.S. groundfish fisheries of the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska.

A base-year contract will be awarded from the date of the award to Sept. 30, 2012, with an Oct. 1, 2012–Sept. 15, 2013, option period.

NOAA did not provide an estimated cost of the project.