Central Asia Competitiveness Initiative

Launched in November 2008, the Central Asia Competitiveness Initiative is part of the Global Relations. It aims to help create a sound business climate for investment, enhance productivity, support entrepreneurship, develop the private sector, and build knowledge-based economies to render this region more competitive and attractive to foreign investment.

Participating countries
Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Located at the crossroads of East and West, and with a total population of almost 100 million people, an educated workforce and abundant energy resources, Central Asia (including Afghanistan and Mongolia) is emerging as an attractive destination for investment and trade. In order to boost competitiveness of participating countries and the region as a whole, the OECD Central Asia Initiative is working with governments, the private sector and other organisations to strengthen legal and economic institutions, develop the SME sector, and increase the capacity of business representative organisations.

This initiative exists to:

improve competitiveness in participating countries through better policy design and implementation
support private sector development with a focus on SMEs
foster economic development and stability
encourage regional integration

To achieve these objectives, the initiative encourages the exchange of best practices and experiences in policy reforms relevant to improving the business climate, support regional dialogue, and assists governments in developing policies that build a dynamic business environment for local businesses and foreign investors. Specifically:

policy reviews identify sector-specific policy barriers to business climate reform and priority policy reform requirements

forums for dialogue and peer review facilitate the exchange and application of OECD instruments, tools and methodologies, and the development of recommendations to address policy barriers and reform initiatives