The US Agency for International Development (USAID) announced the launch of a new initiative, “Central Asia: Region Full of Opportunities”.
The initiative will mainly focus on increasing the competitiveness of local information-communication-technology (ICT) firms of regional countries in the global market by establishing a lively ICT ecosystem, attracting funding for startups, providing entrepreneurial mentorship, and hosting online and offline events.
The project will be realized by Kazakhstan-based MOST Business Incubator with the support of another regional USAID’s Future Growth Initiative.
“Kazakhstan, as a separate market, has been unable to attract significant interest from foreign investment. However, when considered as part of the broader Central Asian market, there are many prospective global opportunities. Another issue is that we, as neighbors, do not explore all the possibilities and opportunities that we have between each other; if we bridge this gap, we will create more regional opportunities,” noted Alim Khamitov, CEO of MOST Business Incubator.
The initiative envisages the following significant elements:
- Launching the program to support young entrepreneurs and small-and-medium-sized businesses with the goal to remove barriers, strengthen competitiveness, spur economic activity, and increase income and new jobs creation.
- Special training program, which will include a localized Community Leaders Academy to create sustainable new businesses.
Moreover, the program syllabus also includes a train-the-trainer component to support local entrepreneurship and support youth and women entrepreneurs with local and international experts.
Central Asia’s Future Growth Initiative (for 2019-2024) is designed to spur productive economic activity across Central Asia, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan by increasing the competitiveness of high-growth industries, and providing jobs and incomes for Central Asia’s growing workforce, propelling the region toward self-reliance.
MOST Business Incubator – Being pioneer private incubator in Kazakhstan, MOST supports young people (18-29 years) wishing to establish or already running micro and small enterprises. ///nCa, 7 October 2020