BISHKEK (TCA) — Participants of the joint UN and the Kyrgyzstan government “Rural Women’s Economic Empowerment” (RWEE) project increased their agricultural production by 30-70 percent over a 4-year period, thus confirming the benefits of increasing economic opportunities for rural women. Additionally, RWEE participants achieved a 30 percent increase in income from the launch of business activities such as greenhouses, bakeries, photo studios, computer courses, and carpet workshops, and contributed to reduced rural unemployment, the project partners said.

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ASTANA (TCA) — Russia is reinforcing its military bases in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan with state-of-the-art weapons to stonewall shifting terrorist activity from Afghanistan to Central Asia, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on June 7 in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana at a meeting of the defense ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states, Russian TASS news agency reported.

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ASTANA (TCA) — Kazakhstan’s Halyk Bank on June 7 said it has entered into an agreement with China CITIC Bank Corporation Limited and China Shuangwei Investment Co., Ltd. for the sale of 60% of the share capital in JSC Altyn Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of Halyk Bank.

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ASHGABAT (TCA) — Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov has ordered the government to outline ways to abolish utilities benefits that have provided households with free electricity, natural gas, and water for a quarter-century, RFE/RL’s Turkmen Service reported.

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ALMATY (TCA) — A court in Kazakhstan has sentenced fugitive tycoon and opposition figure Mukhtar Ablyazov to 20 years in prison after an in-absentia trial Ablyazov called “a farce”, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service reported.

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TASHKENT (TCA) — The Central Bank of Uzbekistan has received a delegation of the European Investment Bank (EIB) to discuss prospects and investment potential of Uzbekistan’s cooperation with the EU bank, including the allocation of credit lines to Uzbek commercial banks for financing projects of small business and entrepreneurship, the Jahon information agency reported.

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