The training was conducted by the “Ready4Trade Central Asia” project for representatives of the country's public and private sectors, including the Ministry of Finance and Economy, Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations, Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Population, State Customs Service, State Committee of Turkmenistan on Statistics, and the Union of Industrialists and entrepreneurs.

In total, 24 people took part in the training.

Gender mainstreaming in cross-border trade plays an important role in the economic empowerment of women. It is essential that trade policy makers, cross-border regulators and the business community join forces and work together to create an inclusive business environment for women.

The main objectives of the training, which consisted of 4 training modules, were to study the role and influence of women on international trade, understanding the aspects of the impact of tariffs depending on trade flows and the significance of statistics for determining strategic decisions to improve the terms of trade, in particular for women.

Ms. Renata Wrobel, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Turkmenistan, noted:

“Understanding the gender issues women face in trade is especially important to ensure equal access to markets, fair competition and a healthy business environment. Based on the concept of gender mainstreaming, this is not just for women. There are issues faced by men as well, which is also part of promoting gender equality in commerce. Since trade and business have no face, it is vital to ensure that the policies adopted create equal opportunities for all. Data access and applicability are important factors for innovation and growth. Data-driven innovation can bring significant and concrete benefits, such as better policy-making and improved quality of public services.”

The participants, most of whom were women, discussed the most pressing issues and shared their experiences. Experts from the International Trade Center addressed the topic of trade facilitation and trade-related infrastructure for women, the economic contribution of women, indicators for the definition and collection of data in the field of gender statistics. Also, experts noted that at the global level, the number of obstacles in business for women has decreased, which contributed to an increase in the number of companies owned by them.

Women-led businesses tend to start off smaller and therefore grow faster, but companies tend to employ fewer than 10 people. It was also noted that the correct gender distribution of skills is very important, which will help to significantly increase labor efficiency.

In conclusion, ITC experts thanked and encouraged participants to engage in continuous dialogue to improve the business environment for women entrepreneurs.

Under the “Ready4Trade Central Asia” project, the European Union and the International Trade Center have joined forces to contribute to the overall sustainable and inclusive economic development of Central Asia by stimulating intraregional and international trade. The beneficiaries of the “Ready4Trade Central Asia” project are government and public institutions, small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as women-led enterprises and business support and development organizations in the countries.

The project operates in 5 countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

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