A new office in Tashkent
A new IPGRI CWANA office was established in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, to provide technical and secretarial support to assist in the coordination of CATCN-PGR activities . 

Documentation Workshop
A PGR Documentation Experts Workshop under the auspices of CAN-PGR, ICARDA and IPGRI took place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan 5-7 April 1999. This meeting was instrumental in the development of a draft project proposal on the establishment of a regional documentation network for Central Asia and the Caucasus. This documentation network will be based on PGR information available in each country and gene pool specific dBases, and will be fitting within the global CAN-PGR efforts. 

Closer links with the Caucasus 
The co-ordination committee of the Central Asia Network on PGR (CAN-PGR) met 7-9 April 1999 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Among the major decisions taken at this meeting was the broadening of the network to include the three Trans-Caucasus states of Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. The network was renamed “Central Asia and Trans-Caucasus Network on Plant Genetic Resources” (CATCN-PGR). Re-structuring of the network along modifications in its modus operandi took place. 

Forest genetic resources
The Forest Genetic Resources Working Group (FOR-PGR) of CATCN-PGR held a meeting in Almaty, Kazakhstan, 19-23 July 1999. Heads of National FOR-PGR working groups of the participating countries agreed to submit to IPGRI’s secretariat for publication, the scientific methodologies of assessment of inter- and intra- specific diversity of the following genera: Pyrus, Malus, Abies, Pistacia, Juniper, Betula, Vitis, Juglans, Salsola, Haloxylon, Crataegus and Juniperus. 

Work on the regional data base for priority forest trees (FOR-PGR), was carried out at the Uzbek Research Institute on Forestry and computerizing passport data has been prepared for Juniperus setavschanica, Juniperus semiglobosa, Juniperus turkestanica, Amygdalys vulgaris, Juglans regia, Pistacia, Haloxylon aphyllum, Populus, Vitis venifera, Pinus pallasiana, Pinus sylvestris, Picea schrenkiana, Picea excelsa. The data base is accessible via Internet. 

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