April 29, 2022, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan At today’s Export Facilitation Initiative event, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced a contest that offers a co-financing program to help Turkmenistan’s farmers to obtain GLOBALG.A.P. certification, as a key step towards exporting fresh horticultural products to premium international markets.
The event included a certificate award ceremony for six GLOBALG.A.P. farm consultants, now registered trainers in Turkmenistan, authorized to use official GLOBALG.A.P. materials when training horticultural producers and other interested parties.
Addressing over 80 event participants from the public sector, farmers and trade promotion service providers in Turkmenistan, and stakeholders of the export promotion ecosystem, USAID’s Country Representative to Turkmenistan Nino Nadiradze stated: “By achieving international qualifications, farm consultants have acquired a unique set of skills to advise local farmers on best agricultural practices that will increase their competitiveness and demonstrate greater commitment to environmental protection.”
In his remarks, Head of the Agribusiness and Fisheries Department of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan Shamurat Herremov praised USAID for building the capacity of the union’s members, and highlighted the importance of implementing the GLOBALG.A.P. standard as a “ticket” to enter premium international markets.
Under the Export Facilitation Initiative, USAID’s Trade Central Asia activity, which reduces barriers to trade, will co-finance GLOBALG.A.P.certification for three selected leading producers and exporters of fresh fruit, vegetable and nut crops.
In addition, GLOBALG.A.P certified producers will improve the quality and safety of their products, conduct business in accordance with international standards of corporate social responsibility, and create better health and safety work conditions for their employees.
The Export Facilitation Initiative will incentivize local farmers to implement the GLOBALG.A.P. standards, by co-financing 80 percent of the cost of the international certification and help them increase their export capacity to international markets in the European Union, Middle East and South-East Asia.
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USAID is the world’s premier international development agency and a catalytic actor driving development results. For more information about its work, visit the USAID Central Asia website: https://www.usaid.gov/central-asia-regional and Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/USAIDCentralAsia.
By US Embassy Ashgabat | April 30, 2022 | Topics: News, Press Releases, South & Central Asia, U.S. & Turkmenistan, U.S. Agencies | Tags: USAID