SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

BI-MONTHLY REPORT: FEBRUARY – MARCH 2010

April 7, 2010

This report was produced for review by the United Agency for International Development. It was prepared by the USAID KSBD Project implemented by The Pragma Corporation.

KAZAKHSTAN SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

CONTRACT NUMBER: 115-C-00-06-00014

CTO/USAID/CAR: Svetlana Golovatskaya PROJECT MANAGER: Mohammad Fatoorechie CHIEF OF PARTY: Gregory Hemphill

DISCLAIMER The author’s views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1.0. INTRODUCTION AND EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...... 1

2.0. KSBD COMPONENT 1: BUILDING (GOK) CAPACITY TO SUPPORT SMES ...... 2

2.1. CO-OPERATION WITH THE ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT (EDD) ...... 2 2.2. CO-OPERATION WITH THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT FUND/DAMU (EDF/DAMU) ...... 3

3.0. KSBD COMPONENT 2: BUILDING BSP CAPACITY TO SUPPORT SMES. COMPONENT 2 INDICATORS ...... 4

3.1. NUMBER OF ORGANIZATIONS ASSISTED THROUGH KSBD BSP PROGRAM...... 4 3.2. TOTAL TRAINING PARTICIPATIONS AND PARTICIPANTS...... 5 3.3. BUSINESS SERVICE PROVIDER (BSP) CAPACITY BUILDING PROGRAM ...... 6 3.4. BSP TOT BUSINESS AND CONSULTANT TRAINING AND ATTESTATION PROGRAM ...... 7 3.5. BSP PARTNERS PROVIDING RETAIL TRAINING TO SME CLIENTS AND PARTICIPANTS ...... 8 3.6. PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP (PPP)/SPONSOR PROGRAM ...... 9

4.0. “KNOW ABOUT BUSINESS” (KAB) PROGRAM WITH BAKER HUGHES AND CHEVRON ...... 9

5.0. MEDIA COVERAGE OF KSBD ACTIVITIES...... 11

6.0. KSBD UPCOMING ACTIVITIES ...... 11

6.1. BUILDING GOVERNMENT OF KAZAKHSTAN CAPACITY TO SUPPORT SMES ...... 11 6.2. BUILDING BUSINESS SERVICE PROVIDERS CAPACITY TO SUPPORT SMES...... 12

1.0. INTRODUCTION AND EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

During February – March 2010, KSBD continued its four-year program to:

1) Support the Government of Kazakhstan to apply international best practices to support SME development, under Component 1 2) Build the capacity of private and NGO sector Business Service Providers (BSPs) to support SMEs, under Component 2.

In addition, KSBD continues implementing a grant received from Baker Hughes and Chevron to provide entrepreneurship education to students in vocational education.

KSBD support for the GOK under Component 1 focuses on sustaining the achievements of the Entrepreneurship Development Department (EDD) now under the Ministry of Economic Development & Trade (MEDT) and formerly under the Ministry of Economy and Budget Planning (MEBP) and promoting the enhanced capacity of the Entrepreneurship Development Fund/Damu (EDF/Damu) to deliver a set of nation-wide programs, services and products to support SMEs.

Under Component 2, KSBD BSP network is retailing SME trainings in the respective oblasts. Having established a nation-wide network of BSPs capable of providing SME training, KSBD is focusing this year on assisting BSPs to complement that training by providing consulting assistance based on the training and SME management tools, particularly to targeted groups of enterprises. KSBD is also strengthening its BSP network performance evaluation through adding quantitative key monitoring ratios collected from the recipient SMEs, thus measuring the business affect of the SME trainings provided.

Under the Baker Hughes/Chevron grant, KSBD continues its program to train teachers in every oblast and Almaty and Astana to provide the International Labor Organization’s “Know About Business” course in entrepreneurship for vocational institutions.

The following activities and outcomes during the period should be highlighted:

Work with EDD, Ministry of Economic Development & Trade:

At the end of March, the Government of Kazakhstan reorganized some Ministries. EDD is now under the Ministry of Economic Development & Trade (MEDT).

To support the development of the EDD, KSBD continued working on the definition of SME categories which determine eligibility criteria for government activities supporting SMEs. In February KSBD GOK Advisor conducted desk research to determine how SME definitions are determined and how they are being used for defining policies and developing SME support programs. The final paper has been accepted by EDD and will be used as the basis for legal amendments.

EDD has been provided with the Policy Framework and Evaluation of Kazakhstan SME Support. In addition the project developed a framework for a future national strategy for SME support.

USAID/GOK KSBD Project, implemented by The Pragma Corporation – Bi-Monthly Report- February-March 2010 1 As part of the ongoing work on EDF/Damu’s Enterprise Development Center (EDC) concept, KSBD provided EDD with a table and charts to show main sources of income, split between earnings and donor programs and funding from the government.

Work with EDF/Damu:

KSBD continued consulting on:

• EDF/DAMU Development Concept: In addition to the already provided Concept a brief paper was made on the long term objectives such a network of centers needs to have. The focus was set at creating trust between government institutions and the business and setting up business networks on regional level. • Annual Entrepreneurship Report: Some changes were made to the draft content provided by KSBD. Most of them were to reflect the lack of specific information on some of the SME indicators suggested by the project. EDD recognized the report produced by DAMU as a national report. • Information services: The Concept and framework of the future Business portal of DAMU has been prepared and sent for further discussion. It reflects the Concept prepared for the non-financial services to be provided through the future EDCs and will also integrate information from the existing KSBD web site.

Building BSP capacity to support SMEs:

During February – March 2010 KSBD: • Assisted 451 SMEs; • Co-financed 1376 training participations. • Received financial support from 3 local governments for the KSBD program activities in their localities.

“Know About Business Program” implementation:

KSBD is continuing implementation of the “Know About Business” (KAB) program. During February - March, KSBD has achieved the following milestones:

• 51 additional teachers certified in KAB, for a total of 444 certified teachers. • Over 81,64 additional students in over 44 vocational institutions receiving KAB this academic year • 1 additional teacher fully certified to train teachers in KAB, for a total of 15 certified teachers of teachers.

2.0. KSBD COMPONENT 1: BUILDING GOVERNMENT OF KAZAKHSTAN (GOK) CAPACITY TO SUPPORT SMEs

2.1. Co-operation with the Enterprise Development Department (EDD)

USAID/GOK KSBD Project, implemented by The Pragma Corporation – Bi-Monthly Report- February-March 2010 2 To support the development of the EDD, KSBD continued working on the definition of SME categories which determine eligibility criteria for government activities supporting SMEs. In February KSBD GOK Advisor conducted desk research to determine how SME definitions are determined and how they are being used for defining policies and developing SME support programs. The project organized a series of meetings with representatives of the National Statistics Committee, and members of the Economic Development Committee in the Majilis (lower house of the Parliament) of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Suggestions for changes in the SME definition were proposed and discussed. Finally KSBD produced a detailed paper with definition changes and justifications. This paper has been accepted by EDD and will be used as material for the legal amendments.

EDD has suggested that a more general evaluation of SME support policies as well as some of the SME support programs already in place needs to be done by the end of the project. It was agreed to call this undertaking the Policy Framework and Evaluation of Kazakhstan SME Support. In addition the project is expected to develop a framework for a future national strategy for SME support. The project has researched several methodologies for such evaluations used by international and national organizations. As a result KSBD has produced a draft content of such an evaluation and strategy framework paper and sent it to EDD for further development.

As part of the ongoing work on an Enterprise Development Center (EDC) concept, KSBD provided EDD with a table and charts to show main sources of income, split between earnings and donor programs and funding from the government.

2.2. Co-operation with the Entrepreneurship Development Fund/Damu (EDF/Damu)

KSBD continues work on the EDF/Damu Enterprise Development Center (EDC) Concept. In addition to the already provided Concept, a brief paper was made on the long term objectives such a network of centers needs to have. The focus was set at creating trust between government institutions and the business and setting up business networks on a regional/territorial level. Such objectives will provide for a better targeting of services and better development of service’s content. This paper was initially discussed and later included in the first draft of the Concept. Currently a meeting is being organized to discuss and set a detailed schedule for the next steps.

Annual Entrepreneurship Report (AER): KSBD made some change to the draft content provided by KSBD. Most of them were to reflect the lack of specific information on some of the SME indicators suggested by the project. This first edition of the SME Annual Report will not completely be correspond to the best practices of such reports, but will be sufficient to be used as a bases for the next editions. In the Private Entrepreneurship Law the responsible institution for producing the Annual Report is set to be the EDD. The department does not have the means and financing to produce it and the project has agreed to act as an intermediary in the process of development. EDD, in fact, is ready to recognize the report produced by EDF/Damu as the national report.

Information services: KSBD has prepared the concept and framework for the future business portal of DAM and sent it to EDF/Damu for further discussion. It reflects the Concept prepared for the non-financial services to be provided through the future EDCs and will also integrate information

USAID/GOK KSBD Project, implemented by The Pragma Corporation – Bi-Monthly Report- February-March 2010 3 from the existing KSBD web site. Information on the SME state in Kazakhstan and basic policies for SME development are being considered as very helpful addition to the future services. KSBD has also suggested to DAMU to use existing information and content of the trainings developed and implemented by the project. The project suggested its trainings be used as a second level of trainings to people who have already participated in the EDF/Damu’s recent 2-day Business Express entrepreneurship trainings done across the country.

3.0. KSBD COMPONENT 2: BUILDING BSP CAPACITY TO SUPPORT SMEs. COMPONENT 2 INDICATORS

Under the Component 2 program for building the capacity of Business Service Providers (BSPs), KSBD accomplished the following during December 2009 – January 2010:

o 451 SMEs assisted o 1,376 training participations o 3 local governments provided support for KSBD program (West Kazakhstan oblast Entrepreneurship Department; Karakiyanski akimat of Mangistauskaya oblast; raion Akimat of the Akmolinskaya oblast)

KSBD in the fourth project year is focusing on complementing training with more consulting to enterprises from BSPs. The consulting is based on the content of the KSBD Business Essentials (BE) and International Labor Organization (ILO) Start Your Business (SYB) courses.

3.1. Number of organizations assisted through KSBD BSP Program

INDICATOR February - March Year 4 TOTAL Year 4 % OF YEAR 3 YEAR 2 YEAR 1 PROJECT TARGET TARGET TOTAL TOTAL TOTAL TOTAL total New Total New Total number of 473 430 1198 1025 N/A N/A 1391 1000 366 3955 organizations

SMEs 1109 958 3335 451 412 1100 100.82% 1108 818 300

NGOs 5 4 30 20 N/A N/A 118 68 10 226

GOK Entities 3 3 17 15 N/A N/A 66 43 25 151

HEIs 4 4 12 10 N/A N/A 25 25 10 72

Vocational/ 2 1 10 9 N/A N/A 24 20 6 60 Technical Financial 7 6 18 13 N/A N/A 33 20 7 78 Institutions Large 1 N/A N/A 3 0 1 5 Companies 0 0 0 (international) Large 1 1 1 1 N/A N/A 10 5 6 22 Companies (domestic) Development 0 0 0 0 N/A N/A 0 1 1 2 Organizations

USAID/GOK KSBD Project, implemented by The Pragma Corporation – Bi-Monthly Report- February-March 2010 4

1250 1108 11091100 1000 818800 800

750 SMEs Assisted Target 500 300 250

0 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year4

KSBD exceeded 100.82% of its year 4 SME assistance target by providing training and consulting to additional 451 SMEs during February - March 2010. As a result of these efforts, KSBD has now provided technical assistance to 3,335 SMEs throughout all 16 oblasts/administrative since project inception.

3.2. Total training participations and participants

INDICATOR February - March YEAR 4 YEAR 4 % OF YEAR 3 YEAR 2 YEAR 1 PROJECT TOTAL TARGET YEAR 4 TOTAL TOTAL TOTAL TOTAL TARGET Total participations 4500 1376 4556 101.24% 13609

4442 2828 1783 Total unique 782 2087 N/A N/A participants 2708 1591 961 7347 Female unique 605 1611 N/A N/A 5401 participants 1960 1105 725 Male unique 177 476 N/A N/A 1946 participants 748 486 236

USAID/GOK KSBD Project, implemented by The Pragma Corporation – Bi-Monthly Report- February-March 2010 5

5000 4442 4556 4000

2828 2708 Participations 3000

2087 2000 1783 1591 Individual Participants 961 1000

0 Year 1Year 2Year 3Year 4

KSBD generated 1,376 participations in February-March, thus exceeding its respective year 4 target by 101,24%. KSBD has also successfully increased the number of individuals receiving training this year by assisting 782 unique participants. The volume of training participations and participants has continued to grow throughout year 4. KSBD has now generated over 13,609 participations from 7,347 unique participations since the project started.

3.3. Business Service Provider (BSP) Capacity Building Program

BSP partner breakdown

INDICATOR February - March YEAR 4 YEAR 4 % OF YEAR 3 YEAR 2 YEAR 1 PROJECT TOTAL TARGET TARGET TOTAL TOTAL TOTAL TOTAL Total 148 148 N/A N/A 107 56 15 148 Status 1 (Attended TOT) 114 114 N/A N/A 87 35 10 114 Status 2 (SME Toolkit Self- 1 1 N/A N/A 0 1 Application) 1 1 Status 3 (Retail Training) 26 26 N/A N/A 14 14 5 26 Status 4 (Retail SME Toolkit) 7 7 N/A N/A 5 6 0 7 Oblasts with 1 BSP 16 16 N/A N/A 16 14 3 16 Oblasts with at least 2 BSPs 16 16 N/A N/A 16 12 2 16 Average BSPs per 16 oblasts 9.25 9.25 N/A N/A N/A N/A 3,3 9.25

150 148

107

100

56 BSP Partners

50

15

0 USAID/GOK KSBD Project,Year implemente 1 Yeard by The2 Pragma Year Corporation 3 Year –4 Bi-Monthly Report- February-March 2010 6

During February - March KSBD has expanded its BSP network and added 15 new BSP partners in the Astana city and 8 BSPs in Kzylordinskaya region. Current BSP network consists of 148 partner organizations in all 14 oblasts and two administrative districts of Kazakhstan. KSBD has now attained national coverage and has an average of 9.25 partners per oblast:

Oblast/Administrative Number of BSP Partners Akmolinskaya and Astana City 21 Aktubinskaya 13 Almatinskaya and Almaty City 14 Atyrauskaya 10 East Kazakhstan 13 Karagandinskaya 10 Kostainskaya 5 Kzyl-Ordinskaya 10 Mangistauskaya 9 North Kazakhstan 8 Pavlodarskaya 13 South Kazakhstan 10 West Kazakhstan 9 Zhambylskaya 3

3.4. BSP TOT Business and Consultant Training and Attestation Program

KSBD TOTs for BSPs

INDICATOR February - YEAR 4 YEAR 4 % OF YEAR 3 YEAR 2 YEAR 1 PROJECT March TOTAL TARGET TARGET TOTAL TOTAL TOTAL TOTAL BE TOTs 2 4 2 200% 6 3 1 14 CE TOTs 0 0 N/A N/A 2 5 0 7 CCS TOTs 0 0 N/A N/A 0 3 0 3 SYB TOTs 0 1 3 33.33% 4 1 0 6

In February - March KSBD completed 2 BE training-of-trainer sessions for its BSP partners in 2 .

KSBD full attestations of individual consultants and trainers

INDICATOR February - YEAR 4 YEAR 4 % OF YEAR 3 YEAR 2 YEAR 1 PROJECT March TOTAL TARGET TARGET TOTAL TOTAL TOTAL TOTAL

Total # of full BE 23 46 80 57.50% 74 49 16 attested 167 Total # of CE 0 0 85 0,00% 26 86 0 attested 112 Total # of BE+CE 0 0 65 0,00% 7 55 0 attested 55 Total # of SYB 0 15 56 26,79% 45 14 0 attested 64

KSBD attested additional 23 business trainers/consultants in Business Essentials. This represents a 57.50% of year 4 attestations target.

USAID/GOK KSBD Project, implemented by The Pragma Corporation – Bi-Monthly Report- February-March 2010 7 3.5. BSP partners providing retail training to SME clients and participants

All retail courses provided by BSP partners

INDICATOR February - YEAR 4 YEAR 4 % OF YEAR 3 YEAR 2 YEAR PROJECT March TOTAL TARGET TARGET TOTAL TOTAL 1 TOTAL TOTA L Total courses given N/A N/A 209 165 101 684 60 209 Average value of each $1,588.7 N/A N/A $1,543 $1,720.01 $1,720. $1653.17 retail course (including EM 7 $1628.86 01 grantees) # of KSBD co-financed N/A N/A 166 34 0 409 retail courses 60 209 # of fully commercial N/A N/A 2 0 0 2 courses 0 0 Total value KSBD co- $340,432.6 N/A N/A $261,846 $72,240.3 $0 $674,519.42 financed retail courses $95,326 0 2

KSBD contribution $154,708.0 N/A N/A $130,835 $31,622.0 $0 $317,165.22 $41,506 0 0

BSP contribution $117,378.3 N/A N/A $72,895 $26,905.0 $0 $217,177.91 $34,184 3 8

Sponsor contribution $3,567 $15,397.00 N/A N/A $12,142 N/A N/A $27,539.00

Participant fees $16,069 $52,949.27 N/A N/A $45,975 $13,713.0 $0 $112,637.29 2

250

209 209 200 165 166 Total Courses 150 (including EM grantees) 101 KSBD Co- 100 Financed 50 34

0 0 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4

KSBD’s BSP network delivered 60 retail training courses in the reporting period. Since this reporting period KSBD adds SME consulting function to monitoring the affect of the retail trainings. Each BSP shall be providing key monitoring ratios for the SMEs trained, at the beginning and in three months period after getting trained. This will be a measure for the market efficiency and application of the KSBD training package.

USAID/GOK KSBD Project, implemented by The Pragma Corporation – Bi-Monthly Report- February-March 2010 8 3.6. Public-Private Partnership (PPP)/Sponsor Program Total Sponsor (PPPs) by Status

INDICATOR February - YEAR 4 YEAR 3 % OF YEAR 3 YEAR 2 YEAR 1 PROJECT March TOTAL TARGET TARGET TOTAL TOTAL TOTAL TOTAL

Total N/A N/A 59 28 1 74 74 74 Status 1 (initial N/A N/A 23 12 0 meeting) 23 23 23 Status 2 (signed N/A N/A 20 7 0 MOC/proposal submitted) 20 20 20 Status 3 N/A N/A 16 9 1 (Direct/In-kind contribution) 31 31 31

The number of organizations designated as sponsors of KSBD activities increased to 74. Sponsorship has been attained from both private sector and local and regional GOK stakeholders and has resulted in expanded project impact. KSBD secured both direct and in-kind contributions for the reporting period and achieved the following:

• Secured $1300 from the State Municipal Service Business Center of Karakiyanski raion of Mangistauskaya oblast for delivery of “Business Essentials” retail training for over 100 SMEs in Kuryk village, Mangistauskaya oblast; • Secured $600 from Arshaly raion Akimat of the Akmolinskaya oblast for delivery of the “Business Essentials” retail training for 126 SMEs; • Secured $400 from the West Kazakhstan Entrepreneurship Department for delivery of the “Start Your Business” for 45 startup entrepreneurs in Uralsk; • Secured $267 from the LLP “Oxygen” for delivery of the “Start Your Business” training in Kostanai.

4.0. “Know About Business” (KAB) program with Baker Hughes and Chevron

KSBD continues implementation of the Know About Business program with grant funding from two American companies active in the oil and gas sector: Chevron and Baker Hughes, to support the provision of a course in entrepreneurship in vocational schools (lyceums and colleges) across the country. During February - March, KSBD has achieved the following milestones:

• 51 new teachers certified in KAB • Over 8164 additional students in over 44 vocational institutions receiving KAB this academic year • 1 new teacher certified to train teachers in KAB

USAID/GOK KSBD Project, implemented by The Pragma Corporation – Bi-Monthly Report- February-March 2010 9 Table 1

Summary of key KAB % of planned program outputs against % increase Planned or % increase or projected original targets Additional Actual to Original of original projected over original total this month date* target target total target completed

Training of Facilitators (Teachers) courses 2 21 7 300% 26 371% 81%

Teachers certified to teach KAB 51 444 150 296% 535 357% 83%

Number of schools with at least one certified KAB teacher 44 306 77 397% 379 492% 81%

KAB classes expected to be delivered annually 362 3,059 155 1974% 4,007 2585% 76%

Students expected to get KAB annually 8,164 74,204 3,100 2394% 96,467 3112% 77%

Key Facilitators (teachers of teachers) certified by ILO** 15 - 20 75% *number of classes and students are based on each teacher's estimates during TOFs **only one teacher of teachers had been certified in Kazakhstan at beginning of program

Table 1 shows the KAB outputs for February-March, cumulative and planned/projected for the entire program.

Table 2 Situation Summary of key KAB before Total Projected/pl Target program outputs to KAB in Kaz % increase anned KAB total in % increase Kazakhstan total program in KAB to from KAB program Kazakhsta from KAB Kaz program date program total n program

Training of Facilitators (Teachers) courses 4 21 25 525% 26 30 750% Teachers certified to teach KAB* 23 444 467 1930% 535 558 2426%

Number of schools with at least one certified KAB teacher 35 306 341 874% 379 414 1182%

KAB classes expected to be delivered annually** 124 3,059 3,183 2467% 4,007 4,131 3331%

Students expected to get KAB annually 2,399 74,204 76,603 3093% 96,467 98,866 4121%

Key Facilitators (teachers of teachers) certified by ILO*** 1 15 16 1500% 20 21 2100% * 70 teachers were oroginally certified. Our survey showed only 14 still actively teaching **number of classes and students are based on each teacher's estimates during TOFs ***only one teacher of teachers had been certified in Kazakhstan prior to beginning of program

Table 2 shows the additional KAB assets the program is providing for Kazakhstan. For example, before the program started, there was only one Key Facilitator qualified to train other teachers in KAB. Now there are 15 more for a total of 16 and 20 more are going to be qualified in April.

USAID/GOK KSBD Project, implemented by The Pragma Corporation – Bi-Monthly Report- February-March 2010 10 Aggregate results of the KAB program implementation as of February - March include:

• 444 teachers from over 306 vocational institutions certified in 14 oblasts and Almaty and Astana • 2 more teachers have been enrolled in distance training for the new program by ILO • Over 80,000 students receiving KAB in this academic year (2009-10) • 15 Key Facilitators ILO-certified • KAB 80-hour Academic program has been approved by MES and distributed almost to all KAB target regions • Received 4 letters of appreciation from Educational Institutions • About 20 media publications have been secured throughout Kazakhstan

5.0. MEDIA COVERAGE OF KSBD ACTIVITIES

INDICATOR February - YEAR 4 YEAR 4 % OF YEAR 3 YEAR 2 YEAR 1 PROJECT March TOTAL TARGET TARGET TOTAL TOTAL TOTAL TOTAL

Total # of media 12 34 N/A N/A 50 51 N/A 135 occurrences TV 2 5 N/A N/A 4 7 N/A 16 Magazines 0 0 N/A N/A 3 13 N/A 16 Newspapers (print) 9 22 N/A N/A 27 29 N/A 78 Newspapers 1 7 N/A N/A 16 2 N/A 25 (electronic)

KSBD activities is being regularly disclosed and marketed via regional newspapers and media channels, as well as KSBD website and monthly newsletters distribution.

6.0. KSBD UPCOMING ACTIVITIES

6.1. Building Government of Kazakhstan Capacity to Support SMEs • The EDC Concept will be made more specific on the possible ways of establishing the EDCs, creation of partnerships for their establishment, control and management. Formulation of chosen services, together with sample content and supporting guidelines and handbooks will be added to the Concept. • More detailed proposal for the content of the SME web portal, is to be prepared with changes of some of the functions to reflect the objective of EDF/Damu to have the portal focused on training. Presentation for the draft version of the portal to be developed and presented to the management of EDF/Damu and other public bodies. • The first draft of the content Framework and Policy Evaluation Paper is to be modified following discussions with EDD. Work begins on the different chapters of the evaluation. Further discussions are programmed with both the new and old management of the EDD, to ensure continuation of the initially suggested format. • Participation at the Round Table on Microcredit financing, organized by the Majlis, and the International Conference on Microcredits to be held in Astana in May.

USAID/GOK KSBD Project, implemented by The Pragma Corporation – Bi-Monthly Report- February-March 2010 11 6.2. Building Business Service Providers Capacity to Support SMEs • ILO “Know About Business” Training of Facilitators will be held in Atyrau, Kyzylorda, Semei (March 26-April 14, 2010) and in Uralsk (March 29-April 7) for new teachers of vocational schools, within implementation of the Baker Hughes/Chevron grant. • ILO “Know About Business” Master Training and “Start & Improve Your Business” Training of Facilitators will be held in Almaty (April 19-30, 2010), for teachers of the vocational schools of 14 Kazakhstan regions, within implementation of the Baker Hughes/Chevron grant. • ILO “Know About Business” Training of Facilitators will be held in Almaty (May 11-21, 2010) for new teachers of vocational schools, within implementation of the Baker Hughes/Chevron grant. • Complete the ILO “Start Your Business” Training program for startup entrepreneurs in Atyrau, Pavlodar, Oskemen, aimed to generate more competent ILO certified SYB Master Trainers in Kazakhstan. • Retail SME training on “Business Essentials” and “Start your business” will be continued throughout 2010 but with the new SME consulting function incorporated. Each BSP shall be providing key monitoring ratios for the SMEs trained, at the beginning and in three months period after getting trained. This will be a measure for the market efficiency and actual application of the KSBD training package. • KSBD has been requested technical support of the long-term training for restaurants and hotels staff in Karaganda by Karaganda Oblast SME Department and Barmen Association. “Business Essentials” training will be complimented with the development and introduction of the Customer Service Standards on the basis of the Barmen Association member organizations, as well as long-term consulting including Strategic Action Plans development based on financial analysis of their businesses.

USAID/GOK KSBD Project, implemented by The Pragma Corporation – Bi-Monthly Report- February-March 2010 12