Harnessing the Export Potential of Indigenous Products to Lift Rural Economies

Description

As Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) members, Kazakhstan and Mongolia are expected to play a more significant role in international production networks in the coming years. However, despite efforts to industrialize and urbanize, both countries still have relatively large rural populations, partly due to their physical geography and history. They have vast steppe lands where herders and dwellers practice semi-nomadic pastoralism, which is why agriculture-related activities remain prominent. However, the contributions of these activities to the gross domestic product (GDP) are disproportionately small.

The study, Community Entrepreneurship in Central Asia: Learning from the “One Tambon, One Product” Program in the Greater Mekong Subregion,(link is external) outlines how indigenous and place-specific products can be utilized to promote rural industrialization. It also examines the feasibility of a similar program in Central Asia and how establishing a geographical indication system for quality verification distinguishes and protects the unique characters of a product and its origin, and provides a premium that can help support the growth of rural economies.