DUSHANBE, August 11, 2009, Asia-Plus — The new Technical Assistance project in the Textile and Clothing (T&C) industry will be financed by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and will be implemented by the International Trade Centre (ITC) in cooperation with the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade as well as with the Ministry of Energy and Industries of Tajikistan, press release issued by SECO on August 11 said.
This is the 3rd Phase of the Project “Trade Promotion in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan” with the overall budget of 3.66 million U.S. dollars, of which the budget for Tajikistan amounts to 1.5 million U.S. dollars.
SECO started working with ITC for trade promotion in Central Asia in 2002, and until present the collaboration was purely focused on the agro-industry area (Fruit & Vegetable). One of the successful outcomes of that Phase was certification for ISO 22000 standard, Food Safety Management System, of two pilot Tajik fruit and vegetable processing enterprises – Elita Istaravshan and Ilmi Istehsoli.
Based on the outstanding achievements of the previous interventions acknowledged as very successful in a difficult environment, SECO decided to enlarge this approach to a new sector.
For Tajikistan component the Textile and Clothing sector was selected following consideration of a list of priority sectors submitted by the Government of Tajikistan to ITC and ITC’s own analysis of sectors with export potential. The Government of Tajikistan considers the sector as having significant potential to grow and to make a contribution to export diversification of the country. The production of cotton fabrics and clothes, including handcrafted applications has a long tradition in the country; it constituted a major branch of employment during the Soviet era. Although the dynamics of the sector development has significantly declined ever since, it still contributes substantially to the livelihood of vulnerable parts of the population – mostly rural people and women generating income from cotton, textiles and garments production.
The choice of the textile sector and the project content builds on lessons learnt, analyses, evaluations of the Phase II and needs assessment carried out by the stakeholders.
The overall objective of the project, which is scheduled to complete towards the end of 2011, is to contribute to the sustainable expansion and diversification of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises exports in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan through increasing competitiveness of the textile and clothing industry and improving the quality management infrastructure of the countries.
The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) is the federal government”s centre of expertise for all core issues relating to economic policy. Its aim is to ensure sustainable economic growth by putting in place the necessary regulatory and economic policy conditions.
