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In This Issue:
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Fact of the Week:
In 2007, Azerbaijan had trade relations with 137 countries and territories, including partners as close as neighbors in the Caucasus and as far away as French Polynesia
in the South Pacific.
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President Aliyev Meets With Turkish President in Baku
 President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan met with President Abdullah Gul of Turkey in private on Wednesday in Baku.
The two heads of state discussed the rapid development of Azerbaijani-Turkish relations, and agreed that the expansion of bilateral ties is important for solidifying regional cooperation.
President Aliyev and President Gul exchanged their views on bilateral relations, regional and international problems and other issues of mutual concern.
President Aliyev Meets With U.S. Energy Envoy
 President Ilham Aliyev received on Monday a delegation led by Boyden Gray, the U.S. Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy.
Gray and Steven Mann, U.S. State Department Coordinator for Eurasian Energy Diplomacy, also met with Azerbaijan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmar Mammadyarov.
The ambassadors praised a conference held in Baku on the oil and gas potential of Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan.
Gray and Mann said that such gatherings are a good opportunity for strengthening energy cooperation between the two countries, and are also of great importance in terms of energy and pipeline security.
They also underlined Azerbaijan's importance as an international energy
supplier.
World Bank: Azerbaijan No. 1 in Reforms
 The World Bank has named Azerbaijan the global leader in business reforms, according to a new study that examines how countries improve their commercial environments and encourage start-ups.
Of 181 countries surveyed, Azerbaijan took the No. 1 spot in the bank’s annual “Doing Business” report that evaluates how countries have improved the ease with which entrepreneurs can open new businesses.
A key to securing the top ranking was Azerbaijan’s forward-thinking “one-stop shop,” also called a “single window” regulation system, that was created this year and which reduced costs and paperwork associated with new businesses. The new system cut business registration time from weeks—and even months—down to a matter of days. The World Bank credited a 40 percent surge in new business registrations in the first half of 2008 to the recent improvements.
The enhanced business environment is part of Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev’s program to diversify the country’s economy, which benefits from massive oil and gas reserves lying offshore under the Caspian Sea. Sectors such as construction, agriculture, tourism, manufacturing, and information technologies are among Azerbaijan’s reinvigorated areas.
“Fifteen years ago, Azerbaijan made clear to the world that it was open for business in the field of energy,” said Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to the United States, Yashar Aliyev. “These business reforms and this ranking clearly show that the country is open for a wide range of opportunities. Azerbaijan has much to offer the world.”
The report looked at 10 indicators to gauge improvements, including the time needed to open a new business, property rights, the flexibility of employment laws and the simplification of tax payments. Azerbaijan improved in seven of those 10 indicators, catapulting 64 places in the rankings, the biggest jump ever recorded by the World Bank.
The Associated Press quoted a World Bank manager this week as saying: “In the beginning, it was Eastern Europe that was reforming. All of a sudden, this year we've seen this move toward the east and Azerbaijan. There is a lot of competition now in that region.”
Azerbaijan Gains Six Medals So Far
at Paralympic Games in Beijing
 Azerbaijani athletes competing in the Paralympic Games in Beijing have so far six five medals, including one gold. The country has dominated the sport of judo, with four of the medals won so far in that sport.
Ilham Zakiyev, won a gold in the 100-kilogram category in judo. The 28-year-old athlete was also a gold medal champion in the Paralympic Games in Athens four years ago.
Azerbaijan's three silver medals went to: Tofig Mammadov, who won his in the 90 kilogram category for judo; Karim Sardarov in the 100-kilogram class for judo; and Zeynidin Bilalov in the men's triple jump.
Bronze medals went to Ramin Ibrahimov in judo and to Vladimir Zayets in the men's triple jump.
A total of 18 athletes from Azerbaijan are competing in this year's Paralympic Games, which ends on Sept. 17.
The origins of the Paralympic games date back to 1948. The Olympic-style games for athletes with disabilities were organized for the first time in Rome in 1960.
Arkansas Teacher Heads to Baku
 An American academic is headed to the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy to teach English.
Pam Henline Villines, who has been teaching English to foreign students while completing her master's degree at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, will be an English Language Fellow at the academy as part of a program jointly administered by Georgetown University and the U.S. Department of State.
When she got the e-mail confirming her fellowship, Villines told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, “I felt like Miss America. “I screamed and yelled.”
Her job at the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy, a school of international affairs headed by Azerbaijan’s former Ambassador to the United States, Hafiz Pashayev, will primarily involve establishing a set of teaching standards for other teachers to follow.
The North Carolina native has lived in Arkansas more than 25 years and has traveled widely—although never to Azerbaijan.
“I am happiest in the world when I'm plopped down in the middle of a country I don't know,” she said. “Watching people and customs, procedures, just little things…I love that stuff.”
Villines will leave next week and return in July 2009.
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