TASHKENT - 3-4 March 2020- SWITCH-ASIA Grants Launch in Central Asia, organized by the SWITCH-Asia SCP Facility and the European Union Delegation to Uzbekistan took place. This event was dedicated to the extension of the second phase of SWITH-Asia to the Central Asia through starting 7 projects in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
Ambassador Eduards Stiprais, Head of the EU Delegation to the Republic of Uzbekistan highlighted the importance of the SWITCH-Asia programme, recently expanded to Central Asia, in further supporting the country’s ongoing work and achievements, in particular in the context of the European Green Deal: «The European Green Deal puts a strong emphasis on supporting the transition to clean energy in line with a more ambitious climate policy».
Newly awarded beneficiaries - implementing organizations introduced projects, which will promote environmentally friendly technologies, behavior change of consumers, better policy dialogue, etc. to promote sustainable consumption and production in the areas of tourism, textile and leather, and agri-food.
The consortia of 7 organizations from Austria, Germany, India, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan will implement the project: “Resource Efficiency in Agri-food Production and Processing (REAP)” in the Republics of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The consortia includes the following members: the Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan, the National Association of Small and Medium Business of Tajikistan, Adelphi Research gGmbH, Austria Recycling, STENUM Asia Sustainable Development Society and TERI - The Energy and Resources Institute.
The project will promote the resource-efficiency in the agri-food production and processing industries along the entire supply chain, thus creating an enabling environment through clusters and incentives. The project will increase the efficiency of water use, reduce food losses, decrease energy and resource inefficiency and enhance the competitiveness of small and media agro-enterprises in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.