The Forum was structured into several thematic plenary sessions and panels, focusing on the issues of trade and development, investment opportunities and new trends, organic horticulture development, export promotion, and other trade and investment development themes. As part of the objective of the trip, experts of the SARD III project participated in a number of conferences, meetings, and networking events directed on enhancing cooperation and knowledge of trade and investment opportunities in Turkmenistan.
Experts had an opportunity to demonstrate SARD III project objectives and achievements, to establish business contacts with representatives of international organizations, including USAID, ADB, EBRD, UNDP, and international companies from the EU and the CIS countries, as well as to discuss possible areas of cooperation to benefit Turkmen agricultural exporters.
The Annual Central Asia Trade Forum was organized by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and co-hosted by the Ministry for Foreign Trade of the Government of Uzbekistan. The Forum gathered over thousand delegates from 27 countries, including representatives of public and private sectors to discuss development of regional trade and potential partnerships for entrepreneurs.
Participation of the SARD III experts in the Forum was supported within the framework of the European Union funded project “Support to Further Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development (SARD III)”. The aim of the project is to support the Government of Turkmenistan in the achievement of national sector objectives for sustainable agriculture, rural development and institutional support to the rural agri/sector. The third phase of SARD in Turkmenistan aims to increase productivity and competitiveness of the agri-food sector through activities that improve production, processing and marketing and to strengthen the capacity of supporting public sector agriculture institutions.
More information on SARD III activities is available at www.sard3tm.org.
