DUSHANBE, April 19, 2014, Asia-Plus -- Within the framework of the EU-funded project “Handicraft and Business through Regional Integration and Fair Trade Market”, the International NGO Cesvi will organize a 10-day European Study Tour for a Central Asian delegation composed of Tajik and Kyrgyz stakeholders.

According to the Delegation of the European Union to Tajikistan, the Tour will bring representatives from Tajik and Kyrgyz Economic Ministries and Business Intermediary Organizations to share their views and experiences and explore together, through the study of some European best practices, the potentials of the Central Asia handicraft as a strategic opportunity for job creation and economic growth.

Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Tajikistan, Ms. Gulru Qayumova, will be one of the members of the delegation.

“The Study Tour will change our vision of the handicraft and it is a great opportunity to learn from the experience of other countries and establish contacts for fruitful partnerships with our Kyrgyz neighbors,” Ms. Qayumova noted.

The group will travel to the Netherlands (April 21-22) to visit the World Fair Trade Organization; then to Belgium (April 23-25), for a series of meetings with representatives from the European Parliament, the European External Action Service and the European Commission’s DG Enterprise; and finally to Italy (April 26-29), where it will participate in the International Handicrafts Trade Fair of Florence and will meet local craftsmen and entrepreneurs.

Established in Italy in 1985, Cesvi has worked in Tajikistan since 2001.  In tajikistna, Cesvi implements humanitarian and development projects encompassing sectors such as environment protection, rural development, disaster risk reduction and income generating activities.  The 2-year project “Handicraft and Business through Regional Integration and Fair Trade Market”, started in January 2014, is funded under the European Union’s Central Asia Invest Program, that  promotes the development of the private sector, especially of small and medium-sized enterprises, in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

“The study tour is only the first of a number of Tajik/Kyrgyz joint initiatives,” said Marco Alfieri, Cesvi Project Manager.  “The project will create concrete opportunities for mutual collaboration between the two countries in the spirit of the regional integration promoted by the Central Asia Invest Program.”