Commercial Law Development Program

The Commercial Law Development Program (#CLDP) is a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce that helps achieve U.S. foreign policy goals in developing and post-conflict countries through commercial legal reforms. We work to improve commercial legal frameworks around the world that are critical to fostering attractive environments where businesses can find opportunity. To achieve this mission, we deliver unique, government-to-government technical assistance programs by designing and implementing conferences and workshops, utilizing long and short-term advisors, and training foreign delegations in the U.S. and other countries.

Attention Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and other professionals interested in the #Caucasus and #Balkans, our team is hiring for the position of International Program Specialist!🌟 The Europe Eurasia Team is looking for an energetic, innovative and results oriented individual who will enjoy working in a dynamic, fast-paced and mission driven organization. The primary geographical focus of the work will be Europe & Eurasia, specifically the Western Balkans and South Caucasus. The work will require travel to countries throughout Europe & Eurasia and other regions throughout the globe.🌍 Key Requirements: - U.S. citizenship is a must. - Working proficiency in Albanian, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Bosnian-Serbo-Croatian (BSC), Georgian, or Russian languages is required. If you or someone you know fits the bill, please click the relevant link below to apply and be part of our dynamic team! 🚀 #JobOpening #InternationalProgramSpecialist #CLDP #HiringOpportunity Link 1: Posting open to the public: https://lnkd.in/ejpdjSxR Link 2: Posting open to the federal workforce, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and other special hiring authorities: https://lnkd.in/eyy9vWZ7

CLDP was honored to be part of this year’s Personal Data Protection Week in Singapore, which included the conference, Asia Privacy Forum 2024 of the International Association of Privacy Professionals. CLDP brought a total of 10 officials from the governments of Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, to participate in a full week of discussion of topics including, A.I., cross border data transfers, data sovereignty, and privacy enhancing technologies. The participants will use the knowledge gained and connections made to develop their own laws and institutions. CLDP is grateful to Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Commission and Infocomm Media Development Authority, the International Association of Privacy Professionals, the Future of Privacy Forum, for their support and hospitality. We also thank our colleagues at the International Trade Administration, which helped organize the week, and at the Federal Trade Commission. #PDPWeek24  #APF24 

Counterfeit products travel through Central Asia in abundance, and therefore, the U.S.-Central Asia Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) specifies intellectual property rights (IPR) recommendations to combat counterfeit products in the region. To that end, from 16 – 18 July, in Almaty, Kazakhstan CLDP convened delegations from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, along with a U.S. IPR interagency delegation including U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative) to discuss developments in each country toward implementing the IPR criteria of the US-Central Asia TIFA. Highlights included Uzbekistan’s removal from the Special 301 Watchlist as well as new legislation and IPR protocol in most countries. An increase in IPR enforcement against counterfeit goods will protect the IP of U.S. and Central Asian countries alike and improve the movement of authentic goods in the region.  

Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) can be part of the solution to help decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors and support countries meet their climate ambitions. Deploying CCUS can also raise regulatory challenges for governments. For this reason, on July 14 in Cairo, Commercial Law Development Program, supported by USAID, conducted a CCUS workshop. The session brought together public and private stakeholders, including Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources. During the workshop, Commercial Law Development Program shared copies of its Arabic-language CCUS Handbook for Policymakers. This workshop is part of a broader bilateral engagement between Commercial Law Development Program/USAID and the Government of Egypt on energy transition initiatives.  

When properly designed and executed, Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects can create cost-effective social value by accessing new sources of capital. However, poorly designed and executed PPPs will not only fail to deliver on these promises, but it will also cost the taxpayers money. This is why, from July 17-19, 2024, CLDP, in partnership with US Embassy Prague, hosted its first Central Europe Regional Working Group on Public Procurement and PPP for 32 participants from over over 20 different ministries, agencies, and organizations. The participants came from 8 countries, including, the host country #Czechia, along with #Bulgaria, #Estonia, #Hungary, #Poland, #Lithuania, #Romania, and #Slovakia. The goal of the first meeting was to assess the needs and gaps of each country’s procurement and PPP regulatory regimes and cover best practices in PPP and public procurement. Thanks to CLDP experts: Sam Beydoun, MBA, PMP, DBIA, Michael Kerrigan, and Brandon Davis

📢 Budget Stabilization Funds and Income Savings Endowment Funds can help economically empower regional governments by providing additional buffers for fiscal stability and serve as a permanent fund to benefit citizens.   💹 On July 9-10, CLDP conducted workshops in partnership with the U.S. Commercial Service Jakarta and the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs (CMEA) on the development of regional sovereign wealth funds and regional endowment funds. The aim of the workshops was to compare the differences between the budget stabilization funds and income savings endowment funds, utilizing examples from the U.S. and Canada. These workshops are part of CLDP’s continued work with CMEA on developing regional endowment funds in #Indonesia.   🙏 Thank you to the U.S. Embassy Jakarta, U.S. Commercial Service Indonesia, and Kementerian Koordinator Bidang Perekonomian Republik Indonesia for your support of these programs. 

🌟 Exciting update! Just days after the passage of a new legal reform, Peruvian procurement officials from the Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas del Perú recently dove into the OECD's Methodology for Assessing Procurement Systems at our CLDP workshop, supported by USAID. Three key agencies explored procurement operations and market practices, using applied group exercises to enhance their skills. MAPS is a key tool to assessing Peru's procurement systems against international best practices, paving the way for improved regulations. 🌍💼 #PublicProcurement #OECDMAPS 🌟 ¡Actualización importante! Tras la reciente reforma legal, funcionarios de compras públicas del Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas del Perú trabajaron con la Metodología para la Evaluación de los Sistemas de Contratación Pública en nuestro taller de CLDP, apoyado por USAID. Tres agencias claves analizaron operaciones de contratación y prácticas de mercado, realizando ejercicios en grupo para mejorar sus habilidades. MAPS es una herramienta clave para evaluar los sistemas de contratación del Perú según las mejores prácticas internacionales, allanando el camino para regulaciones mejoradas. 🌍💼 #ContrataciónPública #OECDMAPS

Ensuring effective procurement systems requires professionalization of the workforce. CLDP partnered with Peru’s State Contracting Supervisory Body, OSCE, for an interactive workshop on a draft competency matrix. This activity supports Peru’s updated certification frameworks for procurement officers, crucial for implementing new reforms. Thanks to Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas del Perú and USAID for their invaluable support! Los sistemas efectivos de adquisiciones requieren de una fuerza laboral profesionalizada. CLDP y la OSCE de Perú colaboraron en un taller interactivo sobre una matriz de competencias, que respalda los marcos actualizados de certificación para oficiales de adquisiciones. Es crucial para la implementación de nuevas reformas. ¡Agradecemos el invaluable apoyo del Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas del Perú y USAID!

⚖️🌏 Promoting legal cooperation is at the forefront of CLDP’s mission. As part of CLDP’s efforts to improve institutional practices and promote international arbitration in South Asia, CLDP hosted the South Asian Regional Institutional Commercial Arbitration Information Exchange in Kathmandu, Nepal. Legal practitioners from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Bangladesh came to Kathmandu to discuss procedures, enforcement, and frameworks for arbitration, with the goal of bolstering arbitration as a viable form of legal cooperation in South Asia.     International experts shared best practices and provided tools to advance international commercial arbitration regionally and internationally, giving public and private sector legal practitioners the opportunity to expand legal cooperation within their home countries and abroad 🤝🌐