Private business in Turkmenistan has advantages due to cheap energy resources and an affordable workforce. This was stated by Eric Livny, Head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in Turkmenistan, in an interview with Trend agency, according to the news website Asmannews.

According to him, state support provides entrepreneurs with preferential access to electricity, water and land, which contributes to the development of import substitution and export-oriented industries.

The plastic packaging, construction materials and greenhouse products industries are developing particularly actively. Successful projects include ‘Tudana’, which supplies strawberries to the Uzbek chain ‘Korzinka’, and ‘Miwe’, an agricultural company that grows bananas in a 100-hectare greenhouse.

The EBRD intends to expand its cooperation with Turkmen banks, including support for foreign economic operations and lending to small and medium-sized businesses.