On November 13-14, 2006, the U.S. Chamber, under the auspices of the Eurasia Business Platform held a roundtable meeting in Istanbul, Turkey.  The EBP Roundtable brought together representatives from the U.S. Chamber’s affiliated American Chambers of Commerce (AmChams) from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Turkey, and Uzbekistan as well as representatives from the International Road Transport Union (IRU), Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).  Also in attendance were Turkish and American companies, most notably Coca-Cola, AIG, and Case New Holland.

 The formation of the Eurasia Business Platform (EBP)was announced at a roundtable of the U.S. Chamber in Washington, DC on September 8, 2006.  The EBP will allow members to create and maintain dialogue, access and strategic interaction with Eurasia’s government and business decision makers.  It will also provide the U.S. Government and other relevant institutions with pragmatic, long-term business strategies for the region. 

As part of our new EBP, the U.S. Chamber sponsored a study which compares the current transportation options for goods between Asia and Europe.  The study was initiated by Eric Stewart, Senior Advisor for Europe& Eurasia International Division and Kristal E. Alley, Special Advisor for International Affairs, United States Chamber of Commerce.

At the roundtable in Istanbul Eric Stewart kicked off the meeting providing a background of the EBP initiative.  Stewart highlighted the purpose and objectives of the EBP emphasizing that the Chamber is working to develop a strategy that can be promoted with relevant U.S. government officials.  The U.S. government is interested in what we, the business community, has to say about the region and our suggestions for positive change.  He noted that this roundtable is a unique opportunity to discuss how this initiative should be shaped and the need to find a ‘common thread’ in the region.  The goals as noted are:

• Economic growth and increased competitiveness
• Deepening of relations between the U.S., Europe and the region
• Greater regional cooperation among countries

Overall, all the participants at the roundtable were supportive of the U.S. Chamber’s EBP initiative and welcomed the opportunity for closer collaboration.
The participants of the Roundtable have formulated the following

Top 5 Cross-Cutting Regional Issues

• Development of transport infrastructure and harmonization / adoption of trade facilitation measures (i.e., harmonized border procedures, customs rules, etc)
• The need to address legal framework (rule of law issues) and corporate governance programs as well as adoption of enforcing legislation
• Commitment to protection of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and combat trade in counterfeit and other illicit goods
• Support energy security and diversification of economy towards IT investment, communications, financial centers, health and medical centers, etc.
• Commitment to reducing red tape, corruption and increasing transparency

At the Istanbul Roundtable AmCham in Uzbekistan was represented by the AmCham President Donald Nicholson II, Board member Gary Beck and the Executive Director Tatiana Okunskaya.