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International Partnerships
Project

Advice for small businesses in Turkmenistan

Camels in Polat's farm
Camels in Polat's farm - Copyright: EBRD

Digitalisation is a strategic priority in Turkmenistan. Digital transformation is becoming more and more popular among Turkmen enterprises regardless of their location, in main cities or rural areas, with a focus on communication technology and e-commerce.

Here, the European Union together with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is funding the project – “Advice for Small Businesses in Turkmenistan”, which in December 2020, started supporting Polat Kanayev, a local entrepreneur. The project is funded within the Investment Facility for Central Asia (IFCA) and will run until 2025.

Camels in Polat's farm
Camels in Polat's farm - Copyright: EBRD

Under this project, the EU and the EBRD seek to boost the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Turkmenistan by strengthening business management, encouraging innovation and addressing skills gaps through the delivery of business advice and training.

Polat runs a camel farm with an area of 140 hectares in the Akhal region of Turkmenistan. He produces fermented milk products from camel milk – chal and agaran.

Polat's camel farm
Polat's farm - Copyright: EBRD

He started his business in 2014. The following year he founded a cattle and camel breeding farm. Later on, he expanded his business, launching a workshop for production of chal and agaran with a capacity of 4 tons of chal per day. Since then the entrepreneur has worked to improve his product quality.

Polat's camel farm
Polat's camel farm - Copyright: EBRD

In 2020, Polat applied for the Advice for Small Businesses programme in order to automate managerial accounting and improve management of the company's resources.

The project focused on the installation and implementation of the Management Information System (MIS) and training of the farm’s staff on how to use this system. As a result, the company was able to improve management effectiveness and reports became more informative, providing better conditions for an efficient decision-making process.

Funding instrument

Investment Facility for Central Asia (IFCA)

Implementing organisations

EBRD