Ainura Cholponkulova

Ainura Cholponkulova is Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Kyrgyzstan. Prior to her appointment, she was a visiting scholar at SIPA at Columbia University. She has the unique combination of manager and analyst, working for diplomatic service, public sector and such international organizations as ABA/ROLI, World Bank Institute, USAID/Urban Institute, UNDP and etc. Over the last years her work experience was directly linked to project management, policy analysis, legal service and facilitating a dialogue with state officials, business community and civil society groups. She is cum laude of Kyrgyz National University Law School and holds a Ph.D. in Constitutional Law and Public Administration from the Kazakh State Legal Academy. In recent years Ainura was recipient of various programs, including Fulbright Fellowship, IREX Fellowship, UN/UNITAR and Department of State Grants.

Dear AmCham Members and Friends!

Since its establishment in 2005 AmCham in Kyrgyzs-tan fosters a favorable business environment and a positive investment climate though the provision of relevant and timely information and the effective advocacy of business interests.
Our staff has organized a variety events and discussed  prospective joint projects with our members and potential partners. As a result of our work, we are pleased to note that during the past few months the number of our members has increased by 111%. In July the AmCham team held an Asses-sment Needs Discussion with our members. During the meeting our members identified such priorities as streng-thening advocacy work, AmCham visibility and communi-cation with Regional AmChams.    
Within the advocacy component AmCham conducts such events as round tables, discussion and luncheons. For instance, we scheduled a business lunch “Business in Kyr-gyzstan: opportunities, challenges and risks” in mid Novem-ber. AmCham Members will have an opportunity to address various questions and comments to the respective top officials ranging from investment, tax, customs, and trade to regulatory and law-making issues. In addition to the above mentioned events, in the near future AmCham committees will start their activities. The work of the committees will promote main-taining positive dialogue with  policy-makers and effectively lobby the corporate interests of AmCham members. Talking about our visibility, AmCham continues to produce a monthly newsletter and is initiating a quarterly magazine. Along with all those activities, we are aiming at promoting and adver-tising the business of AmCham Members and linking them to the AmCham global network and world market.    
Finally, we are deeply interested in establishing sus-tained contacts with AmCham Members  in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Together with AmChams from these countries we hope to organize and put into practice regional forums in order to address regional business development issues and institu-tionalize a network among our members.        

We hope you will enjoy first issue of our magazine!

Kind regards,
Glen Lockwood                                     Ainura Cholponkulova
Board Chair                                                       Executive Director