US embassy cable - 05AMMAN6750

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 006750 
 
SIPDIS 
 
ECA/PE/V/M (MBENSON, IZSOLDOS, AZAKI); NEA/PPD (DBENZE); 
NEA/ELA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OEXC, SCUL, JO 
SUBJECT:  FY 05 MRP:"ELECTRONIC COMMERCE AND THE WORLD 
ECONOMY," JUNE 23 - JULY 14, 2005 - PROGRAM EVALUATION 
 
 
1. FOLLOWING IS THE EVDB EVALUATION OF SUBJECT PROGRAM: 
 
START FIXED-FORMAT TEXT (PLEASE DO NOT EDIT): 
: THE FOLLOWING DATA IS IN A FIXED FORMAT WHICH ENABLES 
: AUTOMATED PROCESSING IN WASHINGTON AND SHOULD NOT BE 
: EDITED EXCEPT BY MEANS OF THE POST-EVDB SOFTWARE. 
EXPORT-SOURCE: POST-EVDB 
VERSION: 3.0.7 
POST-EMAIL: ALDADAWM@STATE.GOV 
TRANSMITTING-POST: PAS AMMAN 
TRANSMITTING-POST-ID: 2887 
EXPORT-TYPE: PROJECT EVALUATION 
START PROJECT-EVAL-REC: 
POST-PROJ-ID: 182 
ECA-PROJ-NO: E/VM-2005-0030 
PROJ-NAME: ELECTRONIC COMMERCE AND THE WORLD ECONOMY 
CPTHEME: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 
START MEMO IMPACT: 
MR. GAITH BAKRI THOUGHT THE PROGRAM WAS "FANTASTIC" AND VERY 
USEFUL FOR THE INITIATIVES HE IS INVOLVED IN HERE IN JORDAN 
TO EXPAND PUBLIC-PRIVATE E-COMMERCE PARTNERSHIPS. 
HE FOUND THE WASHINGTON, DC, SEGMENT OF THE TRIP THE MOST 
USEFUL FOR HIS WORK AS HE LEARNED MANY STRATEGIES AND 
PROCEDURES FOR GOVERNMENT SUPPORT FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZE 
ENTERPRISES. HE IS LOOKING FOR "ROLE MODELS" FOR HIS 
EMPLOYER, THE JORDAN ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, AS 
IT DEFINES ITS MISSION AND ACTIVITIES. IN TERMS OF RELEVANCE 
TO HIS WORK AND FOR THE QUALITY OF THEIR PRESENTATIONS, HE 
PARTICULARLY LIKED THE MEETINGS WITH KEN SCHAGRIN OF THE 
U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE, LAUREN SAADAT OF THE U.S. 
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, JANE BOORMAN AND JAMES VAN WERT OF 
THE SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION, AND HUGH STEVENSON OF THE 
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION. 
ONE OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE TRIP WAS THE DIVERSITY OF THE 
PARTICIPANTS. HE THOUGHT IT WAS VERY USEFUL TO HAVE SUCH A 
WIDE ARRAY OF COUNTRIES AND PROFESSIONS REPRESENTED AS THEY 
WERE ABLE TO SHARE IDEAS, PROGRAMS, AND STRATEGIES FROM MANY 
DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES AND SYSTEMS. HE WAS ALSO ABLE TO 
LEARN ABOUT DIFFERENT E-COMMERCE PROBLEMS AROUND THE WORLD 
AND THINK THROUGH WAYS TO ANTICIPATE FUTURE CHALLENGES IN 
JORDAN. 
HE HIGHLY ENJOYED THE HOMESTAYS AND THOUGHT THEY WERE A 
GREAT IDEA. 
HE WAS EXCITED ABOUT THE YAHOO GROUP CREATED TO HELP THE 
ALUMNI KEEP IN TOUCH, AND WAS PLEASED THAT ONLY THREE WEEKS 
AFTER THE PROGRAM THERE WERE ALREADY 167 MESSAGES WITHIN THE 
GROUP. 
HIS ONLY SUGGESTED AREA FOR IMPROVEMENT WAS TO HAVE THE PRE- 
PROGRAM MATERIALS SENT EARLIER AND VIA EMAIL SO THERE IS 
LESS HASSLE THAN USING MAIL OR FAX. 
HE AND THREE OTHER PARTICIPANTS HAD A MINOR PROBLEM AT TWO 
AIRPORTS AS THEIR E-TICKETS WERE CANCELED OR NOT CORRECT. 
THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE OFFICERS WERE ABLE TO FIX THE PROBLEM 
RIGHT AT THE COUNTER, HOWEVER, SO THE DELAY WAS MINIMAL. 
END MEMO IMPACT: 
START MEMO AUDIENCE-REACHED: 
MR. GAITH BAKRI IS THE DIRECTOR OF THE TECHNICAL SERVICES 
AND PROJECT DEPARTMENT AT THE NEW GOVERNMENT-OWNED JORDAN 
ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION. HE IS INVOLVED IN 
EFFORTS TO HELP DEVELOP JORDANIAN INDUSTRY'S E-COMMERCE 
POTENTIAL. THE JORDANIAN GOVERNMENT IS LOOKING TO EXPAND ITS 
PARTNERSHIPS WITH THE PRIVATE SECTOR SO THIS PROGRAM CAME AT 
A GOOD TIME FOR ONE OF ITS KEY REPRESENTATIVES. 
END MEMO AUDIENCE-REACHED: 
ECA-PROGRAM-OFFICE-RATING: 5 
START MEMO ECA-PROG-OFFICE-COMMENT: 
 
END MEMO ECA-PROG-OFFICE-COMMENT: 
PROGRAM-AGENCY-RATING: 5 
START MEMO PROG-AGENCY-COMMENT: 
BOTH SANDRA AND AMY FROM ACADEMY FOR EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 
WERE VERY HELPFUL AND FRIENDLY. 
END MEMO PROG-AGENCY-COMMENT: 
START ESCORT-INTERPRETER-EVALUATION: 
ESCORT-INTERPRETER: ISABELLE ZSOLDOS 
RATING: 5 
START MEMO COMMENT: 
ISABELLE WAS "VERY WELL ORGANIZED" AND GAVE THE GROUP A VERY 
WARM WELCOME. 
END MEMO COMMENT: 
END ESCORT-INTERPRETER-EVALUATION: 
START ESCORT-INTERPRETER-EVALUATION: 
ESCORT-INTERPRETER: ROBERT HADJICK 
RATING: 5 
START MEMO COMMENT: 
HE HIGHLY APPRECIATED ROBERT'S EFFORTS TO ORGANIZE A 
SURPRISE BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR HIM. IT MADE HIM FEEL VERY 
WELCOME. 
END MEMO COMMENT: 
END ESCORT-INTERPRETER-EVALUATION: 
END PROJECT-EVAL-REC: 
 
HENZEL