IBC Executive Director Askar Sydykov and representatives of the of the Asian Development Bank Mission discussed the state of the business environment and the investment climate in the Kyrgyz Republic, problems faced by local entrepreneurs, as well as recent developments and development of industrial parks and free economic zones in the Kyrgyz Republic.

In December 2014, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved the Regional Technical Assistance 8782: Supporting Industrial Park Development in the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Region. The RETA is intended to support industrial clusters development, notably industrial parks (IPs) and economic zones (EZs) in CAREC countries with pilots of Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic. The output of the TA shall help improve the policy framework for planning, developing, and enhancing the effectiveness of the EZs and IPs and thereby increase the region’s total factor productivity and international competitiveness of the countries.

For this purpose, an ADB consultation mission visited the Kyrgyz Republic on 15-17 May 2017. The main objective of the mission was to (i) solicit feedback from key government agencies and other stakeholders on the Draft of the Diagnostic Study on free economic zone (FEZ), high technology park (HTP) and industrial park (IP) development, and (ii) seek inputs and insights on the Draft Strategic Framework for FEZ/HTP/IP development in the Kyrgyz Republic.

The mission comprised Michael Daly, IP Expert (International Consultant); Aradhna Aggarwal, Strategy Formulation and Policy Planning Expert (International Consultant); Meder Turdubekov, CAREC Adviser to the National Focal Point; Aidana Berdybekova, CAREC Regional Cooperation Coordinator (National Consultant); and Gulnara Arymkulova, IP Specialist for the Kyrgyz Republic (National Consultant).