The International Trade Center (ITC)’s Office in Tajikistan says a Tajik delegation in the early morning of August 12 arrived in the Uzbek capital Tashkent for an intense one- day study tour.

The group was reportedly composed of representatives from six government agencies, two business associations, and two border transport companies.  The Tajik officials and business representatives met with their Uzbek counterparts.  They visited the country’s customs terminals and other border trade agencies to familiarize themselves with local experience and initiate closer cooperation.

The tour reportedly aimed at learning experience of customs terminals and other border agencies in Uzbekistan as well as establishing contacts between Tajik and Uzbek sectoral agencies for further cooperation to improve the services of local terminals.

The initiative was jointly organized by the Tajikistan Ministry of Economic Development and Trade and the International Trade Center under the Swiss Government-funded Global Textiles and Clothing Programme (GTEX).  Ready4Trade Central Asia project funded by the European Union supported coordination between two countries as a regional initiative.  Uzbekistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan, State Customs Committee of Uzbekistan played an important role in ensuring this study tour was possible.  Association of Customs Brokers of Tajikistan and Association of Customs Brokers of Uzbekistan also provided important assistance with necessary arrangements for the tour.

The Tajik delegation visited the customs point "Ark-Bulak" and customs terminal LLC "Highway Logistics Center", located in Tashkent area and got acquainted with infrastructure and functioning of the Center and the customs point.

Furthermore, the Tajik delegation met in a roundtable discussion representatives of relevant Uzbek government agencies, business associations, and private international trade transport and logistics companies in Tashkent.  Both sides informed about the infrastructure development forecast aimed at boosting customs administration, transport logistics and transport corridors in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan respectively.

The International Trade Center's Global Textiles and Clothing Program (GTEX) is a four-year program funded by the Government of Switzerland.  The GTEX program provides support to textile and clothing (T&C) companies in Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan) and the Middle East and North Africa (Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia).  The program's goal is to promote T&C exports and to stimulate employment and income generation along the value chain.

The Ready4Trade Central Asia project is a joint initiative of the European Union and the International Trade Centre. Its aim is to contribute to the overall sustainable and inclusive economic development of Central Asia by boosting intra-regional and international trade in the region.  Beneficiaries of the Ready4Trade Central Asia project include governments, small and medium-sized enterprises, in particular women-led enterprises, and Business Support Organizations.  The project operates in 5 countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.