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.
To
find out more about SABIT and how organizations have used the
training program to achieve measurable results in Eurasia, please
visit www.mac.doc.gov/sabit.
