VZCZCXRO7714
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLH RUEHLN RUEHLZ
RUEHPW RUEHROV RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAH #0039/01 0091137
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 091137Z JAN 08
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0028
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 3218
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1033
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 1481
RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 2085
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASHGABAT 000039 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EUR/ACE 
AID/W FOR EE/AA 
ANKARA FOR AGATT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL TX
SUBJECT:  TURKMENISTAN:  USAID MISSION DIRECTOR VISITS DASHOGUZ 
PROVINCE 
 
¶1.  (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2.  (U) SUMMARY: During his December 17 meeting with USAID Regional 
Mission Director Bill Frej, a warm and cordial Dashoguz First Deputy 
Governor Atajykov thanked Frej for USAID's support for private 
enterprise in Dashoguz province and expressed a desire to continue 
current cooperation in this area.  Atajykov highlighted the 
importance placed by the government on improving rural livelihoods, 
and stated it was the government's duty to support these policies. 
Two local government representatives accompanied the delegation for 
the entire program of site visits to USAID-funded civil society and 
agricultural support centers, an infrastructure project supported by 
USAID's Water Users' Associations program, and a 
USAID/Winrock-supported cheese producer.  They appeared impressed by 
the range of work undertaken by local communities and businesspeople 
with USAID's support.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶3.  (U) As part of his initial visit to Turkmenistan, USAID Regional 
Mission Directo Bill Frej traveled to Dashoguz province to meet 
with local government officials and monitor USAID's ongoing 
programs.  In a meeting with first Deputy Governor Atajykov, Frej 
expressed his thanks for the productive relationship that USAID's 
partners have enjoyed in Dashoguz province and provided an overview 
of the day's visits. (NOTE: Governor Saparmyrat Ashyrov, who in past 
meetings has been positive and supportive of USAID's activities, was 
called to Ashgabat for a Cabinet of Ministers' meeting that same 
day.  END NOTE.)  In return, Atajykov thanked Frej several times for 
USAID's support for private businesses, which improves the 
well-being of the local population.  He stressed that it was the 
government's duty to support the development of the private sector, 
and that both sides shared a common goal in this regard.  Prior to 
joining the provincial government, he worked in the water 
department, and so was familiar with USAID's earlier activities in 
the province, including the construction of a drinking water plant 
in the 1990s.  He reiterated the importance of USAID's work 
supporting small-scale processing, since Dashoguz farmers have many 
raw materials, but limited access to new processing equipment. 
 
COUNTERPART'S SUPPORT CENTER: VALUABLE RESOURCE FOR CIVIC ACTORS 
 
¶4.  (U) Frej visited USAID/Counterpart's Dashoguz Civil Society 
Support Center (CSSC), which was opened in 1998 within the framework 
of USAID's NGO Initiative Support Program.  The Dashoguz CSSC 
provides computer, Internet, information support, training, library 
and other services to local NGOs, communities, and other groups from 
the province.  Additionally, the CSSC also supports a local network 
of Community Resource Points and Resource Center (5 Centers) and 
provides capacity building services to them.  Currently, the center 
is supported by the USAID/Counterpart Community Empowerment Program, 
whose goal is to increase the skills of citizens' groups within 
Turkmen society who seek greater participation in local governance 
at the community level.  Under the program, the CSSC provides 
technical assistance to 12 communities located in six counties 
across the province.  Frej learned that the Dashoguz CSSC staff has 
already applied to the Ministry of Justice for registration as an 
NGO twice, as part of an effort to legalize the center's operations. 
 Although unsuccessful to date, the center's leadership intends to 
continue to pursue registration. 
 
TAGT COOPERATIVE: AGRICULTURAL SUPPORT FOR LOCAL FARMERS 
 
¶5.  (U) The Frej delegation also traveled to the agricultural 
cooperative "Tagt" in Gerogly district.  Founded in 1997 with 
support from the German technical cooperation agency GTZ, Tagt 
partnered with Counterpart International in 2006 to implement 
USAID's Water-User Association assistance program in Dashoguz 
welayat.  Through this project, Counterpart International provided 
an 8-month institutional grant to establish an Agricultural Support 
Center on the cooperative's base with the goal of strengthening the 
capacity of farmer organizations in Dashoguz province and increasing 
farmers' income.  Frej met with cooperative members, toured the 
 
ASHGABAT 00000039  002 OF 003 
 
 
facility and heard a presentation on the group's history and recent 
accomplishments. 
 
WINROCK SUPPORTS LEADING PRIVATE CHEESE PRODUCER 
 
¶6.  (U) The Chowdurbayev family established its private dairy 
business in 1999 in Gubadag district, about 30 kilometers from 
Dashoguz city.  Mr. Chowdurbayev, a 2001 participant in the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture's Cochran Fellowship program, originally 
produced 30-40 kg of cheese per week with six employees, but has 
expanded to current production levels of 150 kg of cheese per day 
that is manually packed via vacuum machine and transferred by air to 
Ashgabat.  This increase represents a daily sales level of what the 
farm used to sell in one month, yet the firm still cannot meet the 
market's demand for its product, a gouda-type cheese. 
 
¶7.  (U) Frej also heard from the owner's son, who currently serves 
as sales and marketing director, about past assistance received by 
the firm via Farmer-to-Farmer volunteers from USAID/Winrock 
International.  In 2004, the host's cheese started to mold during 
production due to the lack of preservative coating, which resulted 
in significant financial losses.  The plant also faced difficulties 
with storage and promotion of finished commodities.  After being 
approached by Winrock Turkmenistan regarding potential assistance, 
"Farmer-to-Farmer" (FTF) volunteer-experts helped the host to 
improve the cheese production and marketing skills which resulted in 
almost doubling of its sales.  Further support assisted the 
employees of the cheese plant to adequately reduce the cheese 
processing time, thus saving time and electricity, improving the 
cheese's body and increasing yields.  The family is now building a 
second plant in another milk-producing district in the province due 
to strong demand in the Dashoguz province and Ashgabat markets. 
 
LOCAL COMMUNITY'S ROAD-BUILDING PROJECT OPENS NEW DOORS 
 
¶8.  (U) Frej also visited the isolated village of Baydag, which has 
a population of 1,900 people.  Since 2006, the community has been 
actively involved in the implementation of USAID-funded programs in 
Turkmenistan.  During the previous Civil Society Support Initiative 
program, which ended in September 2006, the community implemented 
two community projects.  The first project mobilized rural residents 
to reconstruct 2.4 kilometers of road, which shortened the travel 
time for villagers to the main highway.  The second project expanded 
the community's access to information by setting up a Community 
Resource Point with three computers in the village.  The assembled 
community members described for Frej the process through which they 
joined together to carry out their projects, and shared their 
experience in working with local government officials.  In 
expressing his thanks for USAID's contributions, one community elder 
said with a smile, "Some people go on Hajj to Mecca and Medina, but 
if you are able to send me to the U.S., I'll return and tell 
everyone about the good things your country has done for us." 
 
¶9.  (U) COMMENT: USAID assistance in Dashoguz province is having a 
tangible impact on people's livelihoods.  First Deputy Governor 
Atajykov acknowledged this point during his meeting with Frej and 
expressed his desire to see the cooperation continue.  The project 
beneficiaries visited spoke positively of their relations with local 
governments, how the projects had helped them to better understand 
their respective roles in a democratic society, and their ambitious 
goals for the future.  This demonstrates the positive results of the 
community-based approach to development that was adopted after USAID 
shifted its approach away from more traditional NGO registration and 
organizational development activities following passage of the 2003 
Law on NGOs.  USAID's Community Empowerment Project is continuing 
its previous work in Dashoguz province, and is looking to expand its 
cooperative relations with local authorities with a focus on service 
delivery improvement.  The recently launched AgLinks agricultural 
support project is well positioned to support local economic 
development initiatives in rural areas through its support for 
private farmers' groups.  END COMMENT. 
 
ASHGABAT 00000039  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶10. (U) USAID Regional Director William Frej cleared this cable. 
 
HOAGLAND