Press Release No. 09/209

Press Release No. 09/209
June 12, 2009

Mr. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), will travel to Central Asia for the first time when he visits Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Uzbekistan between June 15 to June 18.

Mr. Strauss-Kahn will meet with the authorities of the four Central Asia countries, as well as with parliamentarians, representatives of civil society, and academia. Mr. Strauss-Kahn will focus on how best the international community, including the Fund, can assist these countries in their response to the financial crisis. He will also underline the IMF's commitment to supporting them. The global financial crisis and its impact on Central Asia will be the subject of a speech that he plans to deliver at the Government Academy in Kazakhstan and at the State Kyrgyz University in the Kyrgyz Republic.

Mr. Strauss-Kahn will visit Astana, Kazakhstan, on June 15, Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on June 16, Bishkek, the Kyrgyz Republic, on June 17, and Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on June 18.

The Fund is currently supporting the Kyrgyz Republic with an Exogenous Shock Facility (see Press Release No. 09/184) and Tajikistan (see Press Release No. 09/136) with a Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility Arrangement.