On 4-6 November 2021, the UNDP offices in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan together with the EU funded BOOST project co-organized a Regional Conference in Namangan city (Uzbekistan) on Public-Private Dialogue within the framework of the joint efforts to facilitate sustainable social-economic development and trade in the region. The event hosted representatives of business associations, small and medium-sized businesses, banks, state and local authorities, youth organizations and committees, international organizations, media and other interested partners.

Border trade remains a significant area of economic activity for all three countries. Thus, this large-scale event was held with the aim of creating a dialogue between the companies of the Fergana Valley of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan and provided a platform to discuss the opportunities of creating a more favorable environment for business development and entrepreneurship.

Considering common sectoral and geographical priorities the participants have also discussed the problems of access to finance for small and medium-sized businesses, took part in developing recommendations for stakeholders and received feedback. Experts and consultants of the development sector shared the prospects on addressing the gaps preventing the development of entrepreneurship in the region through their lessons learned and best practices from implementation of different projects in the field.

“UNDP is pleased to be a co-organizer of this conference bridging local decision makers and small and medium enterprises creating a dialogue platform between the companies of the Fergana Valley. UNDP Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan is implementing a number of projects for socio-economic recovery from the negative consequences of Covid-19 in the Fergana Valley and works on promoting cross-border trade cooperation in the region by building regional export capacity in the post-pandemic context by taking into account tying constraints, growth potentials, capacity building and dialogue between entrepreneurs and local decision-makers to raise awareness on cross-border economic opportunities, including in the context of the Eurasian Economic Union. UNDP is keen to collaborate and find synergies to optimize joint efforts contributing to the SDG 2030 agenda through partnership at all levels. I want to cordially express my gratitude for the support of the Russian Federation and our longstanding partner European Union in achieving SDGs during the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond.”

– said Doina Munteanu, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Uzbekistan.

The agenda of the regional conference consisted of various sessions including plenary discussions, B2B sessions and expert consultations. One of the main topics of the event was cross-border cooperation - development of industrial cooperation, trade, and services.

“Good interregional trade will contribute to the development of industrial cooperation and value chains. So, the results of the conference will reveal the areas that are most conducive for interaction of Fergana Valley economies with international markets, including in Euro Asian Economic Union.”

- commented Mukash Kaldarov, UNDP Kyrgyzstan Senior Advisor on Social Cohesion.

Also, such topics as financing, business planning, export package and others were discussed in detail. Plenary discussions taught upon how SMEs in the agro-industrial sector can integrate into the digital community and adapt their technologies quickly enough to climate change.

On the third day, participants were given the opportunity to visit local successful businesses in the field of IT, agro-industry, textile technologies, logistics and see examples of entrepreneurship built on public-private partnership. Besides, there was an exhibition organized, where the business could present their products. This provided an opportunity for several companies from Kyrgyzstan, such as Nukura, for instance, to sign a contract with the relevant partners from Uzbekistan.

It is expected that participation in this Regional conference will assist the representatives from Kyrgyzstan identify good practices and policies that can be learned from other countries in the region.

Participation of the delegates from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan became possible in the frameworks of the following projects:

The project "BOOST - Business and Organizations of Kyrgyzstan Functioning Sustainably" under the extensive programme of the European Union "Central Asia Invest V" intends to strengthen Business Intermediary Organisations (BIOs) in their ability to offer new services to their members and to increase the professional potential of entrepreneurs in the textile and food industry in the southern regions of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

Socio-economic recovery from negative consequences of COVID-19 in Batken, Jalal-Abad and Osh provinces of the Kyrgyz Republic funded by the Russian Federation and aimed at better recovery from the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 pandemic in the Southern region of the Kyrgyz Republic though promoting decent employment and supporting entrepreneurship to better recover after the COVID-19 induced crisis, strengthening health sector’s emergency coordination, risk response and post-crisis recovery as well as promoting digital solutions and accelerated digitalization in the region.