@Asia-Plus

03 May 2024
Central Asia, Tajikistan Local Politics, Tajikistan, Tajikistan Business Economy, Business & Economy

Tajikistan Faces Acute Shortage of Human Capital in Field of Land Reclamation and Irrigation

In Tajikistan, specialists are leaving the important sphere of land reclamation and irrigation due to low salaries. In the last five months alone, 1,000 employees of the Land Reclamation and Irrigation Department (LRID) in Sughd Province have quit their jobs. That could mean trouble for the agricultural sector sooner rather than later.

As Asia-Plus reports, subordinate enterprises under the Land Reclamation and Irrigation Agency are among the main debtors to the tax authorities. Their debt at the beginning of the year is 83.8 million somoni ($7.7 million) – and more than 80 million also belongs to the energy sector. For the first quarter of 2024, the Agency’s wage arrears amounted to about 1.7 million somoni.

“This is primarily due to the fact that water users do not pay or delay payment for reclamation services. Today, the debt of water users amounts to 95.6 million somoni,” according to the Soghd regional leadership.

More than 5,600 people work in Tajikistan’s land reclamation and irrigation sector. The average salary of employees is about 850 somoni per month ($78), and in the regions that salary hasn’t been paid for months. Only during the irrigation season can employees of local water management organizations go to the fields and collect money for irrigation services rendered. Those proceeds often pay rank-and-file workers’ salaries. In order to pay their employees, managers of local water management organizations let them use equipment (excavators, tractors, trailers, etc.) that’s available in order to make money.

There are 779 units of machinery of different brands on the balance sheet of the subordinate enterprises of the Agency, 350 of which are so outdated they are no longer suitable for use.

The sad state of affairs in the Land Reclamation and Irrigation Agency and its subordinate organizations has become a key reason for the mass departure of employees As a consequence, the Agency is facing a crippling staff shortage, with some water pumping stations employing 5-6 people instead of the 18 needed.

The department plans to increase salaries for its specialists – especially young personnel – at the expense of payments for water supply. However, most water consumers are also unable to pay for irrigation, thereby threatening the wage increases before they even begin – meaning both problems may yet persist in tandem.

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Times of Central Asia

@Fergana.agency

03 May 2024
Central Asia, Uzbekistan, Local Politics, Uzbekistan Local Politics

Uzbekistan’s Schoolchildren to Sit International PISA Tests

In 2025, Uzbekistan, with the support of the World Bank, will participate  in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) administered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), with pilot testing starting this May.

PISA testing assesses the ability of students from more than 80 countries in their knowledge and skills in reading, math and science.

When allocating funding for PISA testing in 2019, World Bank experts noted the acute shortage of teachers and their low qualifications and in addition,  the absence of means to assess  both the quality of preschool education and a comfortable environment for learning.

“Investing in children’s early education is one of the most effective ways to develop human capital, which in turn will stimulate economic growth in the country,” Hideki Mori, the head of the World Bank’s representative office in Uzbekistan, said at the time.

Last year’s test results placed Uzbek schoolchildren in the bottom ten  of the 80 participant countries. The cause indicated significant problems within the domestic education system and subsequent data revealed a direct correlation between test results and  families’ socioeconomic status.

To address the issue,  officials plan to allocate more than $3.7 billion for schools and school education curricula this year.

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Times of Central Asia

@1000logos.net

03 May 2024
Central Asia, Business & Economy, Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan Business & Economy

EBRD Launches New Training Program for Female Entrepreneurs in Kazakhstan

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s (EBRD) Women in Microbusiness training program is being launched in Kazakhstan to support women entrepreneurs facing social or economic obstacles in their business activities.

Statistics show that whilst  women manage 49 percent of all micro and small-sized businesses  in Kazakhstan, their representation in medium and large business sectors is only 36 percent and 19 percent, respectively.

Reporting on the initiative, Alma Kasymova, head of the EBRD’s SME (small- and medium-sized enterprises) Program in Kazakhstan, stated, “Our main goal and mission is to empower women entrepreneurs to grow and develop their micro-enterprises through affordable and quality training. We are confident that this program will help participants to expand their competencies and open new perspectives in larger business segments.”

The training, conducted online in Kazakh and Russian, will run for five months and comprise six business modules in marketing, sales, finance, human resources, operational management, strategic planning, as well as automation and the use of artificial intelligence (AI). Participants will be able to enrol at any time convenient for them.  .

Welcoming its launch, an EBRD spokesperson announced, “This is the third implementation of the program -realized in collaboration with the training and consulting company Dialog . Previous projects allowed almost 1,500 women entrepreneurs to strengthen their skills and improve their businesses. “

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Times of Central Asia

@senate.parlam.kz

03 May 2024
Central Asia, International Affairs, Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan International Affairs, Business & Economy, Kazakhstan Business & Economy

Transshipment of Russian Oil Through Kazakhstan to China to Become More Expensive

The Parliament of Kazakhstan has approved an increase in the cost of transit of Russian oil across Kazakhstan to China. At the same time, the volume of transportation will increase to ten million tons annually from the previous figure of seven.

The document amends the agreement between Kazakhstan and Russia on the transportation of hydrocarbons through the territory of the Republic. The prior agreement was signed in December 2013. According to the new amendments, the tariff for transit on the pipeline section Tuimazy-Omsk-Novosibirsk (TON) will be set at $2.1 per ton, and through the territory of Kazakhstan – $15 per ton.

According to Senator Suindik Aldashev, the agreement will be valid until January 1, 2034. Earlier, Kazakhstan Energy Minister, Almasadam Satkaliev said that Rosneft has signed an agreement with SNPS-Aktobemunaigas, which is controlled by the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), to supply 100 million tons of oil over a period of ten years.

The extension of the agreement will ensure that the Pavlodar petrochemical refining plant will be loaded with oil that comes through the Omsk-Pavlodar pipeline. It’s forecasted that the Kazakh side’s profit from transportation tariffs could reach $1.7 billion.

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Times of Central Asia

Image: kabar.kg

03 May 2024
Central Asia, Home, Life & Culture, Kyrgyzstan Life & Culture, Kyrgyzstan, Features, Kyrgyzstan Features

Kyrgyz Authorities Believe Negligence Caused Truck to Hit Students

Kyrgyzstan’s president has ordered the transfer by plane of ten seriously injured children to Bishkek for medical treatment after a truck hit students who had assembled on a hillside for a storytelling competition, Kyrgyz media reported on Friday.

About 30 people were injured in the incident in the Suzak district, Jalal-Abad region on Thursday, prompting President Sadyr Japarov to form a commission to investigate what authorities believe was an act of negligence. The driver of the truck was arrested, though early reports said the truck was empty when it rolled through the crowd of students. Video captured the moment as young people, some standing in formation, scattered or were caught in the path of the vehicle.

“The accident was caused by negligence and non-compliance with safety rules,” said Kamchybek Tashiev, head of the State Committee for National Security and deputy chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers.

“There were many shortcomings in organizational work. Organizers should take into account all safety rules which were necessary. For example, special places for cars should not be allowed into the crowded area. This kind of accident is caused by neglecting such small things,” Tashiev said. Kabar, the state-run news agency, quoted him as saying there was no indication that terrorism was involved.

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Times of Central Asia

“Patriot box” vending machine, Moscow; image: TCA, Aleksandr Potolitsyn/Stephen M. Bland

03 May 2024
Central Asia, Home, International Affairs, Kyrgyzstan International Affairs, Kyrgyzstan, Features, Kyrgyzstan Features

Kyrgyzstan Again Tells Citizens: For Now, Don’t Go to Russia

Kyrgyzstan has again urged its citizens to avoid travel to Russia if possible, citing media reports of “the mass refusal of entry” and saying people should wait until Russia lifts tighter security measures at its border points.

Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs “recommends that fellow citizens who do not have compelling reasons to travel to the Russian Federation temporarily refrain from traveling to its territory until the previously introduced additional security measures and the regime of enhanced control of entry across the state border are lifted, and if they need to leave, check in advance for any restrictions on entry to the Russian Federation,” according to a ministry statement on Thursday.

The ministry issued a similar call to delay trips to Russia days after gunmen killed more than 140 people at the Crocus City Hall on the outskirts of Moscow on March 22, leading to a backlash of suspicion, harassment and violence in Russia towards Central Asian migrants. Several of the detained subjects were from Tajikistan, which last weekend urged its own citizens to skip travel to Russia “unless absolutely necessary,” amid concerns about hundreds of Tajik nationals who were being held in unsanitary conditions at detention facilities in Moscow airports.

Russia has sought to ease tension with Tajikistan, saying anti-terrorism measures were being implemented and that Tajik citizens had not been targeted for mistreatment. Fissures in its relationship with Tajikistan are extremely rare. Russia has also tried to mollify Kyrgyzstan over a Russian police search of the Moscow apartment of a Kyrgyz diplomat last month.

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Times of Central Asia