On 9-10 December 2021, the Border Management Programme in Central Asia, Phase 10, (BOMCA 10) held its first regional Kick-off meeting on Cross-Border Cooperation: Best Practices and Outlook for Central Asia.
In the course of the meeting, the representatives of line ministries and local authorities of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan got acquainted with the cross-border cooperation schemes existing in the European Union and its benefits for the livelihoods of people residing in the border areas. During thematic focus group discussions moderated by the EU experts, participants discussed the best practices of cross-border cooperation, identified gaps and expressed their needs that could be addressed in the framework of the BOMCA 10 project. This allowed to define priority areas and particular actions for advancing cross-border cooperation in each country. The discussed actions will be further elaborated and serve cornerstones for the detailed national action plans paving the way for the implementation of the capacity-building activities and initiatives throughout 2022 and 2023.
BOMCA is the flagship and the largest EU-funded Programme in Central Asia. Its current 10th phase (BOMCA 10) has started on April 1, 2021 for the period of 54 months with the budget of EUR 21.65 million. BOMCA 10 is implemented by the consortium of border management institutions of the selected EU MSs and ICMPD led by the State Border Guard of the Republic of Latvia. The Programme aims to enhance security, stability and sustainable growth in the region, while supporting cross-border cooperation and improving living conditions for people in the border areas of Central Asia. Thematically, BOMCA 10 covers four components: institutional development of border management agencies, improvement of detection capacities, trade facilitation, and improvement of cross-border cooperation. Geographically, the project covers all five countries of Central Asia.