The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will launch the new USAID Business Growth Initiative (BGI) and close out its economic policy reform project, REFORMA.  Deputy Assistant Secretary for Central Asia Daniel N. Rosenblum  at the U.S. Department of State, Vice Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic Valery Dil and U.S. Ambassador Pamela Spratlen will take part at the event together with Government counterparts, business associations and other Kyrgyz stakeholders. The event will take place on 14 October 2014 from 14.00 till 17.00 at the Shayir Conference Room of the Hyatt Hotel.

REFORMA’s objectives were to improve the livelihoods of citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic by strengthening the macro- and micro-economic environment to support business and economic growth. At the closeout event, REFORMA’s local implementing partners will present the project’s major accomplishments, achieved in partnership with public sector agencies, private sector organizations, and research institutions.

In his interview about the REFORMA project, Prime Minister Djoomart Otorbaev said, “We put a number of reform issues before this Project [for implementation], for example, work in optimizing the licensing and permitting system. As a result, we have reduced the number of licenses and permits by five times – leaving 101 licenses remaining.  The Law “On the licensing and permitting system of the Kyrgyz Republic” was adopted… I would also like to mention work in the mining industry that began in 2012.  One of the government’s priorities consisted of creating improved legislation for the mining sector.  We managed to create a new law literally during half a year, and the REFORMA Project helped us to accomplish this task.”

The new four-year BGI Project will build and strengthen the competitiveness of Kyrgyz firms and industry sectors to promote business growth, job creation and economic development.  The project will work in the textile/apparel, tourism, and construction materials value chains to improve their productivity, branding and product offerings, input sourcing, access to markets, quality control, financial management, and other critical components of internationally competitive businesses.  The project will also build workforce and managerial skills and expand upon the business enabling environment reforms initiated by the REFORMA project.

All interested journalists are invited to cover the event. In order to get full overview of the projects and to capture high level officials’ remarks it is recommended to join the opening part of the event. Materials capturing results of REFORMA Project including photos and a video will be distributed at the event. For more information please contact us.

The USAID REFORMA Project was one of many assistance projects supported by the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).