Background Information CLDP’s Trans-Caspian Trade Route (TCTR) project is funded by the U.S. Department of State and supports the C5+1 goals to expand and develop alternative trade routes for Central Asian countries to mitigate trade disruptions and diversify export destinations. The project involves government and private sector representatives from the Central Asian countries, as well as Georgia...

From July 22 – 25, 2024, CLDP hosted a workshop for Central Asian women artisans in Yerevan, Armenia, with a focus on export promotion and exchange of experience, and best practices. Participants engaged in classroom style instruction and visited local artisan studios and cultural centers to gain...

From July 16-18, in Almaty, Kazakhstan, CLDP convened government officials from Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, as well as experts from the office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and Customs and Border Control, to...

Central Asia faces considerable frictions in electronic cross-border payments that curtail domestic transactions, trade and ecommerce. At the same time, the region seeks to build an inclusive ecommerce framework, to promote women’s full participation in digital trade and economic activity.  To...

From April 15-17, CLDP, in cooperation with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, will hold a meeting of the Central Asia Regional Expert-Level SPS Working Group in Almaty, Kazakhstan. This standing working group of representatives from Kazakhstan, the...

From December 4-8, 2023, CLDP, in coordination with the Department of State, Bureau of South and Central Asia and the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office, organized the Central Asia Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) Working Group meeting on the margins of UNCTAD e-Week. The program fostered a public...

On September 25-27, CLDP hosted its third Central Asia Public Private Partnership Information Exchange Workshop in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic with participants from Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan to help foster interregional dialogue and cooperation on PPPs. PPPs are a...

From September 6-8, CLDP, in cooperation with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, held a meeting of the Central Asia Regional Expert-Level SPS Working Group in Tbilisi, Georgia. This standing working group of representatives from Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz...

From February 2 – 7, 2023 in Frankfurt, Germany, CLDP partnered with USAID’s Trade Central Asia activity and the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage to conduct a workshop on marketing strategies and trade fair best practices for a group of 10 small and medium women-run artisan...

On March 12-14, CLDP held an in-person meeting of the SPS Working Group in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in cooperation with USTR and USDA.  This working group meeting engaged representatives from Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and the Kyrgyz Republic to discuss sanitary and phytosanitary...