The day of consulting in the field of export promotion was held on Wednesday, July 12, at the Archabil Hotel in the capital. Within the framework of this business event, organized by the USAID Program for Trade in Central Asia, a launch ceremony was held for a project to cooperate with the ORIENT news portal in order to provide information support to domestic exporters.

The meeting was attended by entrepreneurs from different regions of the country – manufacturers interested in entering foreign markets, heads of 30 companies, as well as consultants, employees of government departments and international organizations.

In her greeting, the representative of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Turkmenistan, Nino Nadiradze, noted that the Day of Consulting in the field of export promotion is an initiative of the Agency's Program and similar events have already been successfully held in other Central Asian countries.

Ms. Nadiradze recalled that last Friday the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan and USAID signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at expanding exports of goods and services of the private sector, improving the investment climate in the country, increasing economic opportunities for women and youth, promoting digital technologies, e-commerce and innovation in the business sector of Turkmenistan.

Nino Nadiradze thanked the Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations for their interest in participating in the current event, one of the tasks of which is to demonstrate how consulting services help manufacturers improve their exports. The USAID representative also noted the importance of the media partnership initiative in this area, which starts at this meeting.

The launch of an information campaign to promote exports was announced by the country director of the USAID Trade Program in Central Asia, Rustam Bekmuradov.

The presentation of this project was made by the director of the MEDIA-TURKMEN news agency, editor-in-chief of the ORIENT website Bekdurdy Amansaryyev.

First, he briefly outlined the situation against which the project will be implemented.

Due to the change in the geo-economic picture of the world and the architecture of international security, there is a need to revise the traditional vectors of movement of goods and services, search for new markets and foreign partners.

In the current situation, exporters of goods are experiencing difficulties first of all, but especially those companies that are just planning to enter foreign markets.

President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, continuing the policy of his father and mentor, leader of the Turkmen people Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, pays great attention to the development of the private sector of the national economy. This process is also helped by the interaction of domestic companies with international organizations, among which a special place is given to the USAID Program on Trade in Central Asia, the speaker stressed.

– This is exactly what our joint project is aimed at. We predict that it will contribute to increasing the competitiveness of domestic exporting companies, increasing the volume and range of goods, improving the investment climate, promoting e-commerce, introducing IT technologies and innovations into the private sector," Amansaryyev said.

It is expected that the implementation of the project will involve in its orbit and the service sector, on which the export of goods directly depends. Namely: certification for compliance with international standards of products manufactured by Turkmen enterprises, marketing, transport and logistics and other services.

It will also strengthen the opportunities and not yet fully realized potential of the country's small business, which is relevant given the process of Turkmenistan's accession to the World Trade Organization.

This partner media campaign, unlike the previous one, implemented within six months in cooperation of the ORIENT website with the USAID project for the development of entrepreneurship and the business environment, is designed for a whole year with the involvement of international consultants, specialists, representatives of trade missions, etc. to work with exporters.

"Within the framework of the project," the director of the MEDIA–TURKMEN news agency continued, "it is planned to create a special section on the site of the ORIENT website, where news information, reports from sites where employees of exporting companies work, interviews with heads of enterprises that have achieved considerable success in supplying goods to the foreign market, economic reviews will be published and analytical materials, articles about leaders and their success stories, about the difficulties that arise on the path of novice exporters and methods of overcoming them.

"An important place will be given to the issues of bringing entrepreneurs' products to a high level of international standards and finding reliable and qualified partners abroad," Bekdurdy Amansaryyev stressed.

– In addition to text content, photo and video materials will be actively involved: photo reports and videos from the scene, thematic and promotional videos aimed at promoting the image of exporting companies and their products.

All these materials published in Turkmen, English and Russian languages can be used in the future to create a rich database of Turkmen exporters, as well as to establish a profile structure uniting domestic exporters.

During the Consulting Day, Natalia Akmuradova, the leading manager of the EBRD Program "Consultations for Small Businesses" in Turkmenistan, Shamammad Annayev, a member of the Board of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs responsible for promoting trade and exports, heads and representatives of Turkmen small business enterprises also spoke.

Then consultations were held for beginners and existing exporters in sections that covered topics such as marketing and sales systems, packaging and branding, certification, export promotion.

In general, the event, according to its participants, has become a significant contribution to improving the business climate and creating favorable conditions for expanding the potential of small businesses in Turkmenistan.

ORIENT news