TASHKENT (TCA) — On October 17-18, more than 35 businesses and government officials from Kyrgyzstan will participate in the Eighth Annual Central Asia Trade Forum in Tashkent. USAID is sponsoring several businesses to exhibit their products at the Forum, which is co-hosted by USAID and the Government of Uzbekistan, the US Embassy in Kyrgyzstan reported.
The trade exhibition will showcase businesses from a variety of sectors across the region, including transportation, tourism, information technology, equipment manufacturing and horticultural production. Last year, Kyrgyz businesses attending the fair negotiated future trade deals worth over $4.6 million, drawing on support from USAID to overcome the challenges of doing business across borders.
The Central Asia Trade Forum (CATF) provides a unique platform for businesses to explore new opportunities to reach more than 70 million potential customers in Central Asia’s emerging markets. Last year’s Forum in Almaty, Kazakhstan attracted more than 1,100 participants from 18 countries.
Since the Forum first took place in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, in 2011, business executives, government leaders and industry experts from Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the United States have used the Forum as platform to share ideas, strike deals and forge new partnerships for future cooperation.
CATF is supported by USAID’s Competitiveness, Trade, and Jobs Activity in Central Asia, which facilitates exports and employment in horticulture and strengthens tourism, transport and logistics services across the five Central Asian economies. By helping firms to become more regionally competitive and by addressing cross-border impediments to trade, USAID is helping to develop a more diverse and competitive private sector and generate export-driven growth.
