From November 27-30, 2018, CLDP, in coordination with the Training Center of the Ministry of Finance (TCMF) in the Kyrgyz Republic, organized a study tour for TCMF senior trainers regarding U.S. approaches to procurement training and emerging issues in international procurement practice and policy. The tour consisted of three parts:

• Capacity building: Participants discussed pedagogical styles, curriculum development, and alternative training models with experts from U.S. academia (the GWU Law School), a private sector commercial training provider (Public Contracting Institute), and the U.S. Government (Federal Acquisitions Institute, Defense Acquisition University, Office of Management and Budget);

• Emerging Issues: as the Kyrgyz Republic is currently negotiating to accede to the WTO’s Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), participants heard from the office of Trade Agreements Negotiation and Compliance (TANC/ITA/DOC) regarding recommended aspects of the GPA to include in procurement training in the Kyrgyz Republic going forward;

• Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs): unlike the U.S., PPP projects are an integral part of the Kyrgyz Republic’s economic, social services, and infrastructure development plans. CLDP has been working close with the TCMF on this issue. As such, participants met with representatives of the Covington and Burling law firm and the National Council for Public-Private Partnerships.

TCMF is the only authorized procurement training center in the Kyrgyz Republic, and trained over 6,000 government employees, procuring officials, and private sector representatives last year alone. As such, cooperation the ongoing cooperation between CLDP and TCMF, combined with the TCMF’s cutting-edge teaching and technological approaches, provides a unique opportunity to maximize the results of CLDP programs in the Kyrgyz Republic.