USAID is committed to equitable and sustainable economic growth throughout Asia. USAID activities include the five-year USAID Central Asian Republics Microeconomic Foundations for Growth IQC (CAR Micro), which supports microeconomic reform, business improvement, and trade facilitation.

Under CAR Micro, USAID’s primary objectives include devising and implementing activities to promote economic growth, reduce poverty, graduate transitional economies from aid to trade, encourage open markets and develop the private sector. These activities will enhance economic integration in the CAR region, which is comprised of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.

CAR Micro’s core technical areas include microeconomic reform, technical advice in micro/small/medium enterprise development, value chain development, agri-business support, stabilization, trade facilitation and other microeconomic areas; relevant research on technical, legal, policy and strategic issues; training of USAID and host-country decision-makers and technical personnel in economic policy and institutional reforms; and knowledge management, information dissemination, and communications.

QED’s CAR Micro team includes Action for Enterprise, Dexis Consulting Group, IRIS Center at the University of Maryland, Development Innovations Group, EDF Communications, Global Business Solutions Inc., and local partners Microfinance Center, M-Vector, Aiten Group, and the Center for Training and Consulting.

QED was also awarded, as a subcontractor to The Pragma Corporation, the CAR Macroeconomic Foundations for Growth IQC.