Steering Committee Members of UNIDO Global Quality and Standards Programme in Kyrgyzstan discussed the further steps in the project implementation

The meeting was opened and chaired by Eldar Alisherov, the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. He welcomed the ongoing project efforts to reach its objective - to underpin Kyrgyzstan's export capacities and competitiveness by enhancing the quality and standards compliance capacity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) along the Issyk-Kul oblast fruits value chain to facilitate their access to the external markets. He expressed hope that the efficiency and benefits of the project will be felt by the local SMEs, striving for the external markets such as the European Single Market. 

In his opening remarks Silvan Hungerbuehler, SECO representative, said: "The Swiss Government believes that the project will achieve success and looks forward to strengthening further cooperation with MoEF and UNIDO in the area of Quality Infrastructure". 

Tursunai Usubalieva, UNIDO National Institutional Liaison Officer, presented key project achievements since December 2020. UNIDO identified the needs and capacities of relevant state-owned testing and calibration laboratories as well as SMEs, as involved in the Fruits value chains.

She also highlighted that UNIDO launched its Technical assistance programme (TAP) for the purpose of the capacity building of small and medium-sized enterprises in complying with international standards of the Food safety management system as per standards of ISO 22000:2018. The first batch of four export-oriented SMEs in Bishkek, Chui and Issyk-Kul oblasts were selected on a competitive basis and have already joined the TAP. 

Since the project aims to enhance awareness about quality, a number of activities are ongoing, including the revamp of the Center for Standardization and Metrology website under the MoEF and promotion of the UNIDO LabNet platform Kyrgyzstan.

About the Global Quality and Standards Programme

The Global Quality and Standards Programme (GQSP) is a global initiative developed to assist more than 10 countries worldwide, including Kyrgyzstan, to boost their competitiveness in selected value chains. Through an innovative approach developed by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Government of Switzerland - through its State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), GQSP identifies quality-related challenges and makes targeted interventions at every single stage of the value chain, thereby increasing compliance with international market requirements and ultimately helping countries to engage in global trade.