United States to assist Azerbaijan in establishing a pension system

To assist the government of Azerbaijan in developing pension programs for the country's citizens, the United States Trade and development Agency (USTDA) today awarded a $600,000 grant to the Azerbaijan State Social Protection Fund (SSPF). The grant will be used to partially fund technical assistance to review individual pension account systems in various countries and design a national system for Azerbaijan.

The grant was conferred during a signing ceremony in Baku. Ambassador Anne E.Derse and Mr. Salim Muslimov, Chairman of SSPF, signed the grant agreement.

Currently, SSPF is transitioning from a pay-as-you-go pension structure to individually -insured, state-funded pension accounts. Under the new system, also known as a Second Pillar System, pension payments are based on an individual's lifetime contributions rather than a percentage of total current contributions. SSPFalso has plans to implement a Third Pillar system, which will allow individuals to contribute a portion of their wages to voluntary accounts in private pension funds, similar to individual retirement accounts in the United States. In addition to making recommendations on these new pension systems, the USTDA-funded technical consultant will help develop a strategy for allocating a portion of the Government of Azerbaijan's strategic financial resources to SSPF to supplement the new pension system.

In addition to the USTDA grant awarded today, SSPF will contribute additional resources toward the completion of the technical assistance. The opportunity to provide the USTDA-funded assistance to SSPF will be completed on the Federal Business Opportunities website at www.fedbizopps.gov. Interested US firms should submit proposals according to the instructions in the Federal Business Opportunities announcement. SSPF will select the US contract that will carry out the technical assistance.

For more information about the USTDA's please visit website at www/ustda.gov.