Date: January 23, 2004

Grant Funding Opportunity: SABIT Program, Department of Commerce

With funds authorized by the U.S. Congress, the Special American Business Internship Training Program (SABIT) is a U.S. Department of Commerce - private sector joint initiative to promote market access and to cultivate economic development in Eurasia - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

Balancing the technical assistance needs of Eurasia's emerging markets with the interests of the U.S. business and scientific communities, SABIT offers group training programs as well as competitive grants to American companies, industry associations, technology transfer and commercialization institutions, non-governmental, and other organizations. The grants cover a share of the costs of hosting Eurasian managers and scientists for three to six months of hands-on professional training in U.S. business practices. Since 1990, over 1,000 organizations have hosted over 3,000 trainees through SABIT.

SABIT TRAINING PROGRAMS: BUILDING U.S. - EURASIAN TIES

SABIT manages two training programs:

The SABIT Grant Program provides funding to train individual English-speaking managers and scientists from Eurasia at a U.S. company or institution for a period of 3-6 months.

The SABIT Group Program brings groups of 15-20 specialists to the United States for four weeks of industry-specific training at companies and sites across the country.
PROMOTING EURASIAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND GENERATING RESULTS FOR U.S. HOSTS

Relationships of mutual trust are a critical element of success in Eurasian markets. SABIT assists U.S. companies and organizations seeking to establish commercial interests in Eurasia by providing a low-cost, low-risk opportunity to form relationships with potential customers, distributors or partners. By concurrently addressing the needs of Eurasian managers and scientists for technical assistance, and thereby promoting economic development in these emerging markets, SABIT programs extend this mutual trust. The relationships built through SABIT serve as a foundation for business development and lead to measurable results:

SABIT has facilitated over $260 million in export revenues and overseas investment to date.

A majority of hosts enter into business relationships with their trainees in the form of joint ventures, distributorships, or contractual arrangements. Hosts also receive assistance from trainees in areas such as market access, certification, customs, taxation, logistics, networking, and accessing market data.

Hosts have formed cooperative research and development partnerships with Eurasian scientists that have led to the commercialization and development of marketable technologies.

Non-governmental organizations have transferred institutional knowledge, technical expertise, and skills to Eurasian partners and associates, who serve as conduits for infrastructure development.

Hosts currently operating in Eurasia have trained and expanded relationships with existing partners, as well as established regional representative offices.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SABIT AND HOW ORGANIZATIONS HAVE USED THE SABIT TRAINING PROGRAM TO ACHIEVE MEASURABLE RESULTS IN EURASIA AT www.mac.doc.gov/sabit.

For further information or to find out more about WTCGP, please call (215) 218-3750 x 2057 or (856) 968-2057 or visit our website at www.wtcphila.org.