Countries
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan
Local Project Partners
Central banks and national banks in the respective countries along with selected financial institutions
German Project Partners
Ostdeutscher Sparkassenverband (OSV) (East German Savings Banks Association),
Saalesparkasse (Halle)
Donor
German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Duration
1 October 2014 to 31.12.2020
(Overall project term)
Amongst the transitioning economies of the former Soviet Union, the countries involved in this regional project are regarded as comparative backwaters. Their shared structural legacy means that all three countries are facing similar challenges: Still amongst the poorest countries in the post-Soviet area, their ruling elite invest more in representations of power than in measures to combat poverty or make their country’s industry or academia more internationally competitive.
The relatively high birth rates in these countries mean they all have a very high percentage of young people entering the job market. At the same time, the quality of their general and vocational education systems is deteriorating – which also has ramifications for the competence of banking sector workers. With respect to practical training, customer orientation, HR policy and structural financial indicators, the banking sector in all three countries is very weak.
The general and technical vocational education systems have similar structures but also exhibit very similar deficits in terms of training standards and teaching staff (de-)motivation. The same applies to materials, equipment and teaching methods.
The project’s overarching development goal is to build up an eco-social market economy in all three countries. Sparkassenstiftung is supporting these efforts with a regional project that aims to strengthen the respective financial systems by making relevant training more professional and fostering alignment with international standards. Project activities focus equally on raising the level of financial literacy amongst the general population, and here school students and young people in particular.
