Central Asian-American Enterprise Fund

Central Asian-American Enterprise Fund (CAAEF) was a non-profit corporation funded by a United States government initiative to promote and create private enterprise in the five Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, The Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, created from the disbanding of the Soviet Union in 1991. It was part of a larger initiative begun by the Republican Administration of President George W. Bush done in collaboration with members of the Democratic Party to foment private enterprise in formerly communist nations. It was created in 1994 under the Clinton administration with $150 million in backing expected for the next 3 to 4 years.
It was an extended part of the initiative for Support for Eastern European Democracy Act of 1989 or (the SEED Act) that had been established for Eastern European countries that were leaving the Soviet Federation and was extended to Russia and other new states with the 1992 Freedom for Russia and Emerging Eurasian Democracies and Open Markets Support Act (FREEDOM).
At the time of its formation, the fund's initial Board of Directors included:
* Stephen Solarz, former New York City Congressman, as Chairman
* Stephen I. Shalom, former Managing Director of Israel Discount Bank, as Executive Vice President;
* Martha Brill Olcott, Professor of Political Science at Colgate University;
* Jerry K. Pearlman, Chief Executive Officer of Zenith Electronics Corporation;
* Sanford Robertson, founding partner at Robertson, Stephens & Company;
* Monica Vachher, formerly President of The Astor Group and at the time of appointment with Bear Stearns;
* Walter White, partner at the law firm of Quarles & Brady.
which represented a mix of investment banks and advisors (Aneas, Robertson and Astor), the manufacturer Zenith, a lawyer, university professor and a former congressman.

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