KHOROG, February 23, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- A job fair was held in Khorog, the regional center of the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (Gorno Badakhshan or GBAO) on February 21.

Seven local enterprises and organizations participated at the fair, offering some 700 vacant jobs.

Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, the chairperson of the Khorog agency for employment, labor migration and social protection of the population, Ms. Muslima Avzalshoyeva, construction sector alone now had 550 vacant jobs.

According to her, the UCA''s (University of Central Asia) School of Professional and Continuing Education (SPCE) in Khorog also expressed wish to participate at the fair in order to accept students for training courses.

“As of February 1, 2009, 528 unemployed have been officially registered in Khorog,” Ms. Avzalshoyeva said.

In the meantime, the head of the GBAO regional agency for employment, labor migration and social protection of the population Mamadnasim Gavarov noted that some 5,000 people applied to the agency’s branches for jobs last year.  3,900 of them were registered as unemployed, which was 1,500 people fewer than in 2007.