DUSHANBE, December 5, 2014, Asia-Plus — The networking meeting titled “The Union of Craftsmen as a Resource for Tajik Craftsmen” took place in Dushanbe on December 5.
According to the Delegation of the European Union to Tajikistan, the overall objective of the meeting, organized by the Union of Craftsmen of Tajikistan (UCT), was discussing the condition of the handicraft industry and possible ways of its improvement. The debate gathered artisans and other stakeholders to foster coordination in the sector and discuss the role of Business Intermediary Organizations in the development and promotion of Tajik handicraft.
Marco Alfieri, Project Manager of the Italian NGO Cesvi, reported on the progress of the project, Handicraft and Business through Regional Integration and Fair Trade Market, whereas Husein Ghulomov, Executive Director of the Union of Craftsmen of Tajikistan, presented the case study of the UCT, making an analysis of the actual problems of interaction between crafts organizations and artisans.
The meeting also featured a presentation of Nasiba Aminova, Executive Director of the National Association of Small and Medium Businesses of Tajikistan (NASMB), on the implementation of one component of the project, which is the improvement of the legislative framework for handicraft small enterprises.
Umed Sharipov, Director of the Tajik Community Based Tourism Association (TCBTA) and Tahmina Karimova, from the National Association of Business Women of Tajikistan (NABWT), completed the panel discussion, offering the valuable point of views of two partner organizations engaged in correlated sectors.
The event was held in the framework of the project, Handicraft and Business through Regional Integration and Fair Trade Market, funded by the European Union. This two-year project aims to promote the development of Tajik and Kyrgyz private sector with particular emphasis on the regional integration of handicraft sector. This objective will be achieved by increasing the operative capacity of the Union of Craftsmen of Tajikistan, main handicraft Business Intermediary Organization in the country.
