All Over the Globe

Askar DARIMBET

ALMATY

May 3

(THE GLOBE)

�Contact between the government and businessmen must be established in order to clarify the problems of Kazakhstani businessmen,� the Minister of Energy, Industry and Trade said in Almaty on May 3.

From March 1999 a competition for the best managerial system �To the 21st century � with standard quality� was announced in Kazakhstan. The contest is sponsored by the Ministry of Energy, Industry and Trade. It will be held in two phases (the first one until June 25, the second ending November 25). Any enterprises or any organizations may take part in the competition regardless of their size and organizational-legal forms.

Mukhtar Ablyazov noted that the efficacy of the work of the enterprises is determined first of all by the quality of management. This is why the competition is a good opportunity for businessmen to check whether their enterprises are well prepared to fulfill of their tasks.

�The quality of management, on which the quality of products depends, is responsible for the company�s place in the market, and influences the promotion of the goods required to seize the market,� he emphasized.

According to Mukhtar Ablyazov, well-known enterprises such as Foodmaster were mentioned at a recent meeting with the Prime Minister. These companies would be allotted the credit to realize new projects. In the Minister�s opinion, the competition is very important for the republic. If many people, not only the government can find out about enterprises becoming famous owing to their managerial systems, we will be able to talk about support of our domestic producers.

The Minister believes that the competition should result in the introduction of new names and trademarks, which will improve the demand for domestic products.

Mukhtar Ablyazov added that the restrictions concerning import of the products introduced by the government are approved of by many enterprises and allow them to improve their situation. In his opinion, the tenge has not sufficiently devalued to let the local producers feel its advantages.

Michail SERGEEV

ALMATY, May 3 (THE GLOBE)

�We believe that women�s participation in policy is an important step towards the democratization of the Kazakhstan society,� the chairman of the Commission on Family and Women�s Problems subordinate to the President of RK said at the opening of the workshop �Woman in policy� in Almaty.

The workshop was organized by the OSCE Centre in Almaty and the National Commission on Family and Women�s Problems. The event is being held to provide Kazakhstan�s women with the knowledge and skills required to both organize a pre-election campaign and to lobby for their interests in local and national organizations.

It is expected that the participants of the five-day workshop, representatives of the regional akimats and businesswomen from different regions of the country, will share the knowledge obtained from the EU experts with other Kazakhstani women.

�The share of politicians in Europe who are women is about 20 to 30%, while in Kazakhstan it is less than 10%,� Ulrich Schoning noted.

ALMATY, May 3 (THE GLOBE)

Tunc Tuncel, sales and marketing manager of Ram Auto Almaty Almaty Ltd. recently announced the signing of a dealer agreement with Ford Motor Company U.K to provide sales and after-sale facilities for all ranges of Ford vehicles in Kazakhstan and Kyrgzstan.

It has been a busy time for the Ford Motor Company. On March 31, Ford Motor Company and AB Volvo completed the sale of Volvo Cars to Ford. Volvo Cars is now part of Ford�s Premier Automotive Group, which also includes Aston Martin, Jaguar and Lincoln.

Two weeks later, on April 15, Ford Credit Europe, (FCE), the banking arm of Ford Motor Company announced in St. Petersburg, the establishment of a vehicle leasing venture in Russia.

Nigel Brackenbury, General Director, Ford Motor Company LLC, said that early signs indicate that the Russian vehicle market is stabilizing, although on a lower level than pre-crisis, and that his sales division and the Ford dealerships were looking forward to utilizing the new leasing plan - especially with companies who needs vehicles in order to expand.

Peter de Rousset-Hall, Executive Director of Ford Credit Europe said the move was �one of the most important decisions that FCE Bank has made in the last year, in terms of its expansion plans into new and emerging automotive markets.�

Earlier in the month (March 1), a new sport utility vehicle (SUV) to be built in Louisville was unveiled at Ford Motor Company�s Kentucky Truck Plant (KTP) on Chamberlain Lane. Employees are scheduled to start producing the new SUV, named Excursion, in the third quarter of 1999. Ford Excursion will be a 2000-year model and will be built on the same platform as the Super Duty F-Series truck, which currently is produced at KTP.

Ford Motor Company is also reported to be moving its electric vehicle (EV) program forward in the 1999 model year by adding a new battery option, introducing a fast-charging demonstration program and finding innovative uses for EVs.

Ford Motor Company took a major step to jump-start the development of affordable small electric vehicles, when the company purchased a majority interest in Norwegian-based PIVCO Industries, the manufacturer of the two-passenger TH!NK electric city car.

TH!NK has a top speed of 55 miles per hour and a range of about 50 real world miles between charges. Drivers simply plug TH!NK into a normal 220 volt electrical outlet to recharge. An 80 percent recharge takes 4-6 hours.

The car will first go on sale in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden before the end of 1999 and will be powered by nickel cadmium batteries with a 10-year life.

It�s expected that about 1500 of the EVs will be built in its first year of production.

At the heart of Ford�s research and development efforts is the P2000 program in which Ford scientists and engineers are developing advanced lightweight, family-sized vehicles and adding various powertrains including an aluminum intensive direct-injection engine, hybrid electric, and fuel cell electric drives

The P2000 program is associated with Ford�s participation in the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV), a collaboration of Ford, General Motors, DaimlerChrysler and the U.S. Department of Energy. The Canadian government also supports fuel cell research.