ASTANA (TCA) — A regional meeting on harmonization of rules and regulations for facilitation of international rail transport was held on December 20 in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana under the auspices of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Committee and Organization for Co-operation between Railways (OSJD), the press office of Kazakhstan Railways national company (KTZ) said.

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KABUL (TCA) — Trade and investment have been steadily decreasing in Afghanistan in the past few years, the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) said at a meeting of heads of private companies in Kabul on Tuesday, TOLOnews reported.

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DUSHANBE (TCA) — Fifty sets of radio equipment (HF/VHF radios) were handed to the Committee of Emergency Situations and Civil Defence under the Government of Tajikistan by the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe on December 19. The equipment will mainly be used for the early warning system for natural disasters in the region of Sarez Lake and to facilitate communication with the population of the settlements along the Bartang River in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of Tajikistan.

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BISHKEK (TCA) — Freedom House, an independent watchdog organization that monitors the status of freedom around the world and advocates for democracy and human rights, on December 20 responded to the Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan upholding a lower-level court decision to fine the founders of the independent outlet Zanoza.kg the equivalent of about $387,000 because of alleged libel against the country’s former president.

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BISHKEK (TCA) — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Kyrgyz Investment and Credit Bank (KICB) are providing financing to Kyrgyzstan’s leading sugar producer, Kaindy-Kant. A loan agreement for US$ 2 million was signed on December 20 in the capital, Bishkek. The funds will provide Kaindy-Kant with working capital related to the procurement and subsequent storage, transportation and processing of sugar beet, the EBRD said.

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BISHKEK (TCA) — Kyrgyzstan’s opposition politician and former presidential candidate Omurbek Babanov has called efforts to impound the property of his television channel in Bishkek a “seizure by raid,” RFE/RL reported.

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