Aid for Trade in Central Asia
Background
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed Central Asian countries’ severe vulnerabilities across health and socio-economic dimensions. The challenges convinced the countries to the need for economic diversification and the development of value chains that would help them shift from commodity dependent and undiversified economic structures.
By prioritizing the development of value chains and the exports of finished products with high added value, such as those produced by MSMEs and farmers, the governments are paving the way for structural transformation towards green and inclusive economic growth models and reducing dependence on commodity exports.
UNDP in Europe and Central Asia has been supporting Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to harness the potential of trade and value chains to contribute to building economic resilience and sustainable development pathways in Central Asia.
After four successful phases since 2009, Aid for Trade in Central Asia has inaugurated its fifth phase in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
Objectives
The Aid for Trade project works on promoting inclusive growth in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan through promoting green value chains and increasing private sector competitiveness with strong emphasis on building more resilient economic structures through economic and export diversification and adapting to the impact of the Covid-19 and other external shocks.
Approach
Aid for Trade builds on a suite of interventions with 3 mutually reinforcing levels:
Macro:
Designing trade and private sector development policies to foster an environment conducive for MSMEs, strengthen economic resilience, and transform production and export structures with a focus on green, employment-rich, and ‘future-proof’ value chains
Meso:
Improving efficiency of public and trade support services for the private sector with focus on services critical for MSMEs at crisis and recovery times
Micro:
Direct support to MSMEs - enhancing firms’ resilience through building ‘forward-looking’ productive capacities, increasing value-addition, efficiency and competitiveness of target green value chains
Major Achievements
- Since 2014, the project has supported the creation of more than 6,000 new jobs, including 2,600 for women in the region
- The project supported the promotion of 12 green and inclusive value chains in selected employment-rich agricultural, agro-industrial and tourism sectors in rural areas through building ‘forward-looking’ and sustainable productive capacities
- 20% increase in productivity, resource efficiency and added value of selected niche sustainable products/value chains on average, with supported export contracts worth $600 million
- Access of 34 Trade Support Institutions and Business Support Organizations of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, as well as over 6,400 SMEs/target value chain actors to trade and market intelligence - with enhanced capacities to use available big data tools for market foresight and value chain development
- More than 2,500 women participated mentorship programs on women entrepreneurship and affordable finance and benefited from other forms of support.
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Impact
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