BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 17
By Amina Nazarli - Trend:
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is launching a new five-year program aimed at improving trade connectivity in Central Asia, Trend reports citing Business Turkmenistan.
The program is worth $19 million, and will cover all five countries of Central Asia namely Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The aim of the project is to expand economic opportunities in the region through adjusting customs and border control procedures, strengthen interaction between the private and public sectors in investment and trade, and enhance cross-border cooperation between businesses in the region.
Back in January, USAID completed its five-year Competitiveness, Trade, and Jobs activity in Central Asia.
Earlier USAID told Trend that the Agency also intends to implement a number of business projects in Turkmenistan.
The Agency plans to increase the number of ISO consultants by training people from all five provinces of Turkmenistan on implementing ISO 9001 Quality Management System, ISO 14001 Environmental Management System, ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety System, and ISO 22000 Food Safety Management System.
Training ISO consultants and auditors on implementing and auditing ISO 27001 Information Security Management System and Halal food standard (GSO 2055-1:2015) is another goal of USAID in Turkmenistan.
The Agency also intends to co-finance the implementation of the SAP Business One ERP system at food packing manufacturer, Halk Hazyna, to digitize the company’s business processes.