Mark Feierstein, Associate Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the third highest ranking official in the agency worldwide, will give a press conference on his impressions from the visit and discuss USAID’s development partnership with   Kyrgyz Republic on December 9, 2014 from 16.30 to 17.30 at the Internews Office Conference Room located at 234 A Chokmorova Street, Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic.  U.S. Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic Pamela Spratlen and USAID Mission Director Michael Greene will also take part in the press conference.

Mark Feierstein is visiting Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan from December 7 through December 9.   Mr. Feierstein is the highest level USAID official ever to have visited the Kyrgyz Republic. Mark Feiersten manages a range of agency and inter-agency policy priorities in USAID Washington D.C. In Kyrgyzstan he is meeting with Prime Minister Joomart Otorbaev, other representatives of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic, civil society, visiting USAID projects, and is engaging with USAID partners across the health, education, economic growth and democracy and governance sectors. 

All interested journalists are invited to the press conference.

For more information please contact: Asel Turganbaeva by phone +996770770285 or e-mail: ATurganbaeva@usaid.gov

Biography: Mark Feierstein serves as the Associate Administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development, managing a range of agency and inter-agency policy priorities. He is also the Assistant Administrator for Latin America and the Caribbean.

He previously served as principal and vice president at the international polling firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner. He has overseen public opinion research in over 30 countries, gaining insights into the views of citizens around the world on a range of topics.

Before joining Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, Feierstein served as director of USAID's Global Elections Office. He also worked in the State Department as Special Assistant to the U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States, where he negotiated with diplomats from the Americas on an array of regional issues. Prior to that, he was director for Latin America and the Caribbean at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, overseeing programs to strengthen democratic institutions in developing countries.

Feierstein, who is fluent in Spanish, has worked as a journalist in the United States and in Mexico and has published articles on international issues for leading major newspapers and journals. He received his B.A. magna cum laude from Tufts University and his M.A. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.