DUSHANBE, April 19, 2014, Asia-Plus — Senior representatives from the Main Geology Directorate under the Government of Tajikistan (Glavgeologiya) and Germany’s Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) have met in Dushanbe to discuss cooperation issues.
According to Glavgeologiya, the sides, in particular, discussed prospects of further expansion of bilateral cooperation in the framework of the regional technical cooperation program, Mineral Resources for Development of Central Asia.
BGR, the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), and the German Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations (OA) are implementing the program on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in cooperation with the partner countries Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
The main objective of program that was launched in April 2012 is in improving the framework conditions of the mineral resources sector with the aim to better contribute to a sustainable and socially beneficial economic development in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
According to GIZ Tajikistan, state authorities in participating countries receive assistance in enhancing national and local conditions for promoting investment and technology. This includes identifying the need for change and proposing support measures for foreign direct investment that are geared to the development interests of the economy, society and the environment. The program provides organizational consultancy and policy advice and organizes multi-stakeholder dialogue, for instance for resolving conflict between the local population and mining companies. Diversifying activities and increasing local added value encourage economic development at the local level. The program cooperates with natural resource companies in order to implement and improve their corporate social responsibility strategies.
Based on an analysis of the training requirements for jobs in the natural resources sector in the three countries, support is being provided to selected education institutions in expanding further training measures and conducting them in line with market conditions.
In Tajikistan, specialist personnel in geological services, supervisory and environmental authorities, research institutions and specialist departments of the relevant ministries receive training as modern service providers for the mining industry. This includes, for instance, conducting inspections for environmental, occupational health and safety and technological aspects, developing methodological tools, drafting a register of contaminated mining sites and providing advisory services for environmentally sound gold extraction in the small-scale mining industry.
The Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) is a German agency within the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. It acts as a central geoscience consulting institution for the German federal government. The headquarters of the agency is located in Hanover and there is a branch in Berlin. The BGR, the State Authority for Mining, Energy and Geology and the Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics form the Geozentrum Hanover. All three institutions have a common management and infrastructure, and complement each other through their interdisciplinary expertise.
