04-372. Sunshine Act Meeting

TIME AND DATE:

2 p.m., Thursday, January 22, 2004.

PLACE:

Offices of the Corporation, Twelfth Floor Board Room, 1100 New York Avenue, NW., Washington, DC.

STATUS:

Hearing open to the Public at 2 p.m.

PURPOSE:

Annual public hearing and hearing in to afford an opportunity for any person to present views regarding the activities of the Corporation.

PROCEDURES:

Individuals wishing to address the hearing orally must provide advance notice to OPIC's Corporate Secretary no later than 5 p.m., Friday, January 16, 2004. The notice must include the individual's name, organization, address, and telephone number, and a concise summary of the subject matter to be presented.

Oral presentations may not exceed ten (10) minutes. The time for individual presentations may be reduced proportionately, if necessary, to afford all participants who have submitted a timely request to participate an opportunity to be heard.

Participants wishing to submit a written statement for the record must submit a copy of such statement to OPIC's Corporate Secretary no later than 5 p.m., Friday, January 16, 2004. Such statements must be typewritten, double-spaced and may not exceed twenty-five (25) pages.

Upon receipt of the required notice, OPIC will prepare an agenda for the hearing identifying speakers, setting forth the subject on which each participant will speak, and the time allotted for each presentation. The agenda will be available at the hearing.

A written summary of the hearing will be compiled, and such summary will be made available, upon written request to OPIC's Corporate Secretary, at the cost of reproduction.

CONTACT PERSON FOR INFORMATION:

Information on the hearing may be obtained from Connie M. Downs at [phone], via facsimile at [phone], or via email at [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

OPIC is a U.S. Government agency which provides, on a commercial basis, political risk insurance and financing in friendly developing countries and emerging democracies for environmentally sound projects which confer positive development benefits upon the project country while creating employment in the U.S. OPIC is required by section 231A(c)(1) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended (“the Act”) to hold at least one public hearing each year; and by section 231A(c)(2) to hold a public hearing in conjunction with the quarterly meeting of the Board of Directors.

Among other issues, OPIC's annual public hearing has, in previous years, provided a forum for testimony concerning section 231 A(a) of the Act. This section provides that OPIC may operate its programs only in those countries that are determined to be “taking steps to adopt and implement laws that extend internationally recognized worker rights * * * to workers in that country (including any designated zone in that country).”

Based on consultations with Congress, OPIC complies with annual determinations made by the Executive Branch with respect to worker rights for countries that are eligible for the Generalized System of Preferences (“GSP”). Any country for which GSP eligibility is revoked on account of its failure to take steps to adopt and implement internationally recognized worker rights is subject concurrently to the suspension of OPIC programs until such time as a favorable worker rights determination can be made.

For non-GSP countries in which OPIC operates its programs, OPIC reviews any country which is the subject of a formal challenge at its annual public hearing. To qualify as a formal challenge, testimony must pertain directly to the worker rights requirements of the law as defined in OPIC's 1985 reauthorizing legislation (Pub. L. 99-204) with reference to the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, and be supported by factual information.

Dated: January 5, 2004.

Connie M. Downs,

OPIC Corporate Secretary.