DUSHANBE, April 3, 2010, Asia-Plus — A roundtable to discuss the main obstacles for development of the fruit-and-vegetable processing industry in the country took place in Dushanbe on April 2.
Ms. Adiba Aliyeva from the National Association of Small and Medium Businesses of Tajikistan (NASMB) said the event was staged by the Hilfswerk Austria International Dushanbe Office cooperatively with NASMB in the framework of the USAID Productive Agriculture project for Tajikistan.
The meeting participants included representatives from the private sector, relevant governmental institutions and international organizations active in the country.
“They discussed issues related to facilitating development of the fruit-and-vegetable processing industry for supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs),” Aliyeva said, noting that meeting generalized discussions and presentations of representatives of relevant governmental institutions and commercial organizations rendering financial services.
Experts say the main obstacles on the way of development of Tajikistan’s farm produce processing industry and its amount of export are low-quality supplies, lack of modern processing equipment, insufficient professional knowledge and business skills, as well as lack of effective agencies promoting trade.
The National Association of Small and Medium Business of Tajikistan is a non commercial business association representing the interests of entrepreneurs of Tajikistan since 1993. NASMB represents 51 member companies that employ approximately 2,000 people operating across nearly every business sector in Tajikistan.
