US, Central Asia to implement five projects

The US will allocate US$15 million to these projects, the US Embassy in Tashkent said.

The sides are planning to realize a project Regional Dialogue of Global Counter-Terrorism Forum (GCTF), which is aimed at fighting challenges of terrorism and violence in Central Asia.

The Central Asia Business Competitiveness project will seek to make it easier for businesses in Central Asia to increase exports and enter new markets. To begin, the project will focus on horticultural sub-sectors with strong export potential. The project will work with companies to increase their competitiveness and participation in global value chains.

The project will also work with governments and trade authorities on policies that will make it easier for businesses to export goods. In addition, the project will assist businesses to attract capital and technology, with the goal of improving food production, processing, and packaging.

The Transport Corridor Development (TCD) project will aim to reduce the cost and time of moving goods across borders in Central Asia, as well as improve the quality of transport and logistics services throughout the entire region. The project will work with businesses, trade authorities, and governments to identify and reduce non-tariff barriers to trade along key corridors. In addition, the project will work with transport and logistics firms to reduce inefficiencies and improve competitiveness. The project will also provide businesses with networking opportunities as well as training and information on topics such as competitiveness benchmarking, route planning skills, air freight trends, refrigerated transport developments, freight consolidation methods, logistics center management, and more.

Power the Future will help energy sector policymakers and mid-level staff in their efforts to scale up renewable energy throughout Central Asia. The project will provide technical and planning assistance on U.S. and international best practices to increase renewable energy sector development. The United States will also provide training and technical assistance on strategic energy planning, competitive procurement, grid integration, smart incentives, renewable energy zones, and innovative finance.

Supporting National and Regional Adaptation Planning project will seek to increase the capacity of Central Asian states to plan for adaptation against the impacts of climate change. The project will work to identify regional priorities and cross-border challenges for climate change adaptation. It will also improve the availability of high-quality information on and analysis of climate science. In addition, the United States will provide technical assistance to key stakeholders and coordinate with development assistance partners. These efforts will support each country’s national adaptation planning process under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. In addition, the countries will identify and share data and indicators that can improve climate services, assess cross-border climate challenges, and support evaluation and monitoring. These data will then be used to incorporate shared cross-border adaptation strategies into the countries’ national adaptation planning process.