Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06DUSHANBE577
2006-03-30 13:02:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Dushanbe
Cable title:
TAJIK AND AFGHAN BUSINESSWOMEN NETWORK AT KHATLON
how-toVZCZCXRO7043 RR RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG DE RUEHDBU #0577 0891302 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 301302Z MAR 06 FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7078 INFO RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 8242 RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 1485 RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1513 RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1498 RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS 0846 RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 1465 RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 1411 RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1456 RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 1426 RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1341 RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 1269 RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 1490 RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 1537 RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1053
UNCLAS DUSHANBE 000577
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV ECON EAID EAGR SOCI KWMN AF TI
SUBJECT: TAJIK AND AFGHAN BUSINESSWOMEN NETWORK AT KHATLON
CONFERENCE
UNCLAS DUSHANBE 000577
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV ECON EAID EAGR SOCI KWMN AF TI
SUBJECT: TAJIK AND AFGHAN BUSINESSWOMEN NETWORK AT KHATLON
CONFERENCE
1. Maybe sewing really IS women's work? At a March 29
conference in Qurghon-Teppa, 50 Tajik and Afghan women
entrepreneurs came together to network and seek business
cooperation, but had few examples of success outside the sectors
of handicraft. Enthusiasm and energy were abundant, but the
conference did not host one Tajik woman who had broken the
barrier to running a successful broader-based trade enterprise.
Almost all of the discussions focused on handicraft production
and marketing except for a few mentions of women involved in
farming.
2. How Afghan businesswomen could learn from the experience of
their Tajik counterparts dominated the discussions. One Tajik
entrepreneur from a small village told an insightful and
touching story about painstakingly building a handicraft
business from just a few somoni to a televised meeting this
month with President Rahmonov with all the women wearing
traditional dresses her NGO had sewn and sold. Several other
Tajik NGO representatives discussed their entrepreneur-promoting
activities, especially micro-lending, and how just a few
outreach centers had positively impacted the lives of thousands
of impoverished women by giving them technical assistance to
participate in the handicraft industry. In addition, local
Tajik government officials expressed their appreciation for NGOs
providing business and legal guidance to women starting small
businesses.
3. Prospects for reviving traditional trade between the Khatlon
region and northern Afghanistan also briefly were discussed in
the context of the Nizhny Pyanj bridge under construction and
shared language and culture. Seventy percent of goods consumed
in Kunduz come from China, 10 percent from Iran, five percent
from Pakistan, and about 10 percent locally produced. Goods
from China, Iran, and Pakistan amass substantial transportation
costs that could be significantly decreased if the same goods
were imported from Tajikistan. Potential items for trade
include: wool, fruits and vegetables, clothes, tea, candies,
medicine, oil, honey, and carpets.
4. The conference was the second day in a three-day trip for
the Kunduz and Takhar-based businesswomen to visit local Tajik
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Khatlon and network.
This trip was the first by Afghan women to the Khatlon region,
although some of the Afghan entrepreneurs previously
participated in a similar trip to Tajikistan's northern
industrial Khujand city. The regional Khatlon district
government, a local NGO Sapeda, and the Eurasia Foundation
jointly sponsored the event, where the DCM gave opening remarks.
HOAGLAND
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV ECON EAID EAGR SOCI KWMN AF TI
SUBJECT: TAJIK AND AFGHAN BUSINESSWOMEN NETWORK AT KHATLON
CONFERENCE
1. Maybe sewing really IS women's work? At a March 29
conference in Qurghon-Teppa, 50 Tajik and Afghan women
entrepreneurs came together to network and seek business
cooperation, but had few examples of success outside the sectors
of handicraft. Enthusiasm and energy were abundant, but the
conference did not host one Tajik woman who had broken the
barrier to running a successful broader-based trade enterprise.
Almost all of the discussions focused on handicraft production
and marketing except for a few mentions of women involved in
farming.
2. How Afghan businesswomen could learn from the experience of
their Tajik counterparts dominated the discussions. One Tajik
entrepreneur from a small village told an insightful and
touching story about painstakingly building a handicraft
business from just a few somoni to a televised meeting this
month with President Rahmonov with all the women wearing
traditional dresses her NGO had sewn and sold. Several other
Tajik NGO representatives discussed their entrepreneur-promoting
activities, especially micro-lending, and how just a few
outreach centers had positively impacted the lives of thousands
of impoverished women by giving them technical assistance to
participate in the handicraft industry. In addition, local
Tajik government officials expressed their appreciation for NGOs
providing business and legal guidance to women starting small
businesses.
3. Prospects for reviving traditional trade between the Khatlon
region and northern Afghanistan also briefly were discussed in
the context of the Nizhny Pyanj bridge under construction and
shared language and culture. Seventy percent of goods consumed
in Kunduz come from China, 10 percent from Iran, five percent
from Pakistan, and about 10 percent locally produced. Goods
from China, Iran, and Pakistan amass substantial transportation
costs that could be significantly decreased if the same goods
were imported from Tajikistan. Potential items for trade
include: wool, fruits and vegetables, clothes, tea, candies,
medicine, oil, honey, and carpets.
4. The conference was the second day in a three-day trip for
the Kunduz and Takhar-based businesswomen to visit local Tajik
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Khatlon and network.
This trip was the first by Afghan women to the Khatlon region,
although some of the Afghan entrepreneurs previously
participated in a similar trip to Tajikistan's northern
industrial Khujand city. The regional Khatlon district
government, a local NGO Sapeda, and the Eurasia Foundation
jointly sponsored the event, where the DCM gave opening remarks.
HOAGLAND