OSCE Office helps to promote investment, develop job opportunities in southern Kyrgyzstan

OSH, KYRGYZSTAN, 15 June 2005 - Ways of promoting investment and developing employment opportunities in southern Kyrgyzstan will be discussed at a conference in Osh tomorrow.

Organized by the OSCE Osh field office and the administration of Osh region, it will bring together government representatives from the Batken, Jalalabad and Osh provinces, international donors and members of the diplomatic corps, including from Kyrgyzstan's key trading partners - Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Japan and Switzerland.

Issues such as credit, infrastructure and cross-border trade will be high on the agenda. The aim is to help devise a realistic investment strategy and action plan for the region.

"This event will help promote the investment needs of southern Kyrgyzstan, which in turn will address two of the root causes of the recent discontent in the country - poverty and unemployment," said Robert Mangham, Economic and Environment Officer in the OSCE Osh field office.