Kyrgyzstan delegation attended PAGE week in Mongolia devoted to green economy issues.
The State Secretary for the State Agency for Environmental Protection and Forestry under the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic, Azamat Erkebaev, said this visit afforded opportunity for mutual experience exchange on development and implementation of policy of “green economy” in two neighboring countries. “This cooperation and cross training may significantly contribute to achievement of objectives of green economy. Today, Kyrgyzstan is at the onset of the green economy adoption and it is important for us to establish constructive dialogue with partners experienced in implementation of green economy initiatives,” Azamat Erkebaev believes.
In his turn, the representative of the Ministry of Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic, Kubatbek Usonov, highly appreciated Mongolian experience on introduction of “green” procurement at the government level. He thinks, the introduction of “green” procurement in Kyrgyzstan will have favorable effect on the economic situation in the country and contribute to the sustainable development. “Green” or sustainable procurement imply economical and efficient use of the public money. When choosing a good/service they will consider both the price and other additional specifications favorable for sustainable development and environmental protection,” says Kubatbek Usonov. “When introducing new requirements for efficient and ecofriendly state procurement, the government will gain quality goods and indirectly inspires producers and suppliers to improve their goods or services in green way.”
Expert on green economy of the Ministry of Economy of the Kyrgyz Republic, Kylychbek Djakypov, believes Kyrgyzstan may be interested in the Mongolian experience from point of introduction of national system on sustainable financing, transformation of banking system and sustainable procurement.
Chairperson of the Council for Business and Entrepreneurship Development under the Toraga of the Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic, Umbriel Temiraliev agrees with him and sees necessity of sustainable financing for Kyrgyzstan. “This is good both for banks and private sector. Introduction of sustainable financing will let to get long-term financing at low rates. This is not only socially responsible financing but it is obligatory financing to support environment,” he says.
According to Asel Albanova, the Specialist of the GIZ Program on Promoting Sustainable Economic Development in the Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolian experience shows that the government, business and population have to be involved in issues of the green economy. One of positive instant of Mongolian experience is the single government approach to promotion of green economy. “The Ministry of Finance of Mongolia consider the problem not only for point of national budget deficiency but also considers opportunities for sustainable development of the country in long-term prospect together with environment and climate change and their influence on life of the population,” she says. In her opinion, the introduction of green economy has to be conducted in parallel at all levels. “Despite the absence of any specific stimulating framework, we are already implementing “green” projects in Kyrgyzstan using various energy-efficient, energy-saving technologies, solar panels, drip irrigation technologies in agriculture, etc. Now we have to support business sector in this direction for its sustainable development, to create such conditions when use of green technologies are attractive and profitable,” says Asel Albanova.
The delegation comprised representatives of the Ministry of Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Ministry of Economy of the Kyrgyz Republic, the State Agency for Environmental Protections and Forestry under the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic, business association “JIA”.
The visit became possible due to mutual support of the project UN PEI, GIZ and PAGE.