Kyrgyzstan’s uniquely beautiful nature and rich historical and cultural heritage attract more and more tourists from all over the world every year. Due to its high potential and dynamic growth, tourism has been identified as one of the priority sectors of the country's economic development. In addition, the tourism industry has a tangible positive multiplier effect on other sectors of the economy, the population’s welfare, and the environment.
However, despite their great potential, the sector’s key players – hotels, cafes, and restaurants – face a number of challenges that hinder their dynamic and sustainable development. Major barriers include unreliable supply of energy and water, lack of funds for increasing energy security and energy efficiency, and, as a consequence of the former, high maintenance costs.
Reducing operational costs and the environmental impact of the tourism sector in Kyrgyzstan is an urgent matter, which PERETO aims to address. The project’s primary goal is to support the promotion of sustainable consumption and production (SCP) and energy efficiency practices among small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). To achieve these objectives, PERETO cooperates not only with SMEs, but also with business associations, government agencies, financial institutions, suppliers of energy saving technologies and services, as well as with universities, local communities and tourists.
PERETO also focuses on raising the awareness of SMEs, with the help of an online self-assessment platform and training modules, which will enable entrepreneurs of the tourism sector to adapt more rapidly and more easily to SCP practices, and to adapt a greener lifestyle. Additional trainings and consultations will be organized throughout the country, and the participants will be given the possibility to undergo green certification.
Several small and medium hotels, guest houses, or hostels in different regions of the country will serve as pilot projects, which will demonstrate energy and resource saving technologies, as well as sustainable lifestyle practices.
By the end of the project in 2024, 300,000 tourists and local residents are expected to be reached through digital communication products. At least 20% of small and medium enterprises from the tourism sector are expected to implement resource-efficient measures. Furthermore, PERETO shall facilitate access to green finance for SMEs, and create favorable conditions for relevant policies at the national level.
PERETO is one of the six projects under the SWITCH-Asia programme in Central Asia, launched in March 2020 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. As François Begeot, Head of the Cooperation Department of the European Union in the Republic of Uzbekistan, put it in his welcoming speech, SWITCH-Asia aims to support the implementation of the UN Agenda for the period up to 2030, and to promote international cooperation in the field of climate change, mitigation and adaptation, according to the Paris Agreement, in partner countries in Asia, including Central Asia.
The PERETO Project will be implemented by UNISON Group (Kyrgyzstan), jointly with the American University of Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan), Technopolis Group (Belgium) and the Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production (Germany). The project is supported by the European Union SWITCH-Asia Programme on Sustainable Consumption and Production - EU SWITCH-Asia Programme.