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In This Issue:
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Fact of the Week:
Azerbaijan is home to Yanardag, the “Hill of Fire,” a visually stunning phenomenon where gas seeping naturally from the ground has ignited and burned for centuries along a hillside outside Baku. Only a handful of such places exist in the world.
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President Bush Confers New Trade Status to Azerbaijan
 The United States will add Azerbaijan to the list of countries whose trade goods are eligible for U.S. duty-free treatment under a longstanding program, the White House said on Dec. 19.
“In accordance with section 502(f)(1)(A) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (the "1974 Act"), I am notifying the Congress of my intent to add… the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azerbaijan) to the list of beneficiary developing countries under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program,” President Bush wrote in a letter to Congress on Dec. 19.
The U.S. Generalized System of Preferences program provides duty-free entry for some 4,650 products from more than 130 designated countries and territories.
Reuters reported that President Bush decided to add Azerbaijan “in the interest of improving economic relations and promoting that country's development, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council said.”
The same Reuters report also mentioned Azerbaijan’s plentiful oil and natural gas supplies, and cited its listing by the World Bank’s “Doing Business” report as among the top 10 business reforming countries in 2008.
President Aliyev Declares 2009 ‘Year of Children’
 President Ilham Aliyev has declared 2009 to be the “Year of Children,” the Azeri Press Agency reported this week.
The “Year of Children” envisions strengthening children’s welfare and increasing the attention of civil society organizations to children’s problems, the media outlet reported.
According to the Presidential order, various government ministries and organizations must submit plans within one month to the President’s Office that will advance the agenda promoting children’s issues. Those plans are expected to come from the State Committee on Family, Women and Children’s Issues, the ministries of Education, Health, Youth and Sport, Labor and Social Protection, and the State Statistics Committee.
President Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva have been staunch supporters of children’s issues through health programs, education, and the arts.
Azerbaijan to Invest $130 Million
in Georgian Railway Next Year
 Azerbaijan intends to invest $130 million for the construction of a section of railway in neighboring Georgia in 2009, the Black Sea Association of News Agencies reported this week.
The report said the funds would go toward a section of the Marabda-Kartsakhi railway to Akhalkalaki, part of the larger Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway linking the Caspian Sea with Turkey and beyond. The Georgian section of the rail link requires some 20 miles of new track.
A multi-lateral accord to build the link was signed by the three countries in January 2005. On November 21, 2007, Presidents Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia, and President Abdullah Gul of Turkey inaugurated construction of the railroad at a groundbreaking ceremony in the village of Marabda in southern Georgia.
Court Backs Referendum on Amendments
to Azerbaijan's Constitution
Azerbaijan's Constitutional Court has ruled in favor of allowing 41 changes to 29 articles of the country's constitution to pass to a referendum that would decide, among other issues, newly proposed presidential term limits.
The court ruled on Dec. 24 that Azerbaijan could legally hold a nationwide referendum on proposed constitutional amendments. One of the amendments would extend presidential terms in office beyond the current limit of two terms.
Azerbaijan's parliament must now vote to hold the referendum and set a date. Parliamentarians have signaled their support of holding a referendum that would allow citizens to decide if a president may be elected for more than two terms.
Correction:
A Nov. 14 article in the Embassy newsletter, “Azerbaijan Helps Its Neighbor: New Five-Year Gas Contract Signed With Georgia,” reported incorrectly the gas reserve estimates from the country’s offshore Shah Deniz field. The field is projected to contain 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas and 2.1 billion barrels of gas condensate. Thanks to our loyal and sharp-eyed readers who brought this to our attention! |
