Ashgabat, 16 December 2019: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations of Turkmenistan start a new cooperation project on strengthening of the trade capacity in Turkmenistan.

The objective of the project is to develop human capital in order to increase the competitiveness of the national staff and transform human intelligence into the leading factor of economic growth. The project also seeks to boost the diversification of export and increase the share of higher value-added products in export composition, thus, reducing import dependency of the national economy.

“Diversification of the economy is very high on the agenda of the Government of Turkmenistan. We are delighted that UNDP starts a new partnership with the Government to boost the national capacity and contribute to the development agenda in such an important sphere as trade. We look forward to implementing this project to the best quality, attracting world class experts, and mobilizing all of our skills and expertise,” noted Natia Natsvlishvili, UNDP Resident Representative a.i.

The project is funded by the Government of Turkmenistan and it is scheduled for the period of 2019-2021.

Among other activities, the project will strengthen institutional and personnel capacity through a comprehensive analysis of the needs and potential for improvement followed by the series of trainings and improved efficiency of the trade regulation instruments.

It will also support formulation and implementation of the measures aimed at ensuring effective access of export of Turkmenistan to foreign markets, including introduction of the new economic mechanisms of the integrated distribution system.

Finally, the project will work on creating a research capacity and improving the measurement system for effective evaluation of the feedback received from the business community, research and academic institutions.