The JVI Director visits three countries in Central Asia

Meeting with the Central Bank of Uzbekistan

Meeting with the National Bank of Tajikistan

I visited Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan in late September 2023. I met with the JVI’s main counterpart institutions in these countries, i.e., central banks, ministries of finance and economy, tax authorities, statistics offices, and with several training centers affiliated with some of these institutions. I had very productive meetings. The discussions covered feedback from training participants and their supervisors on the JVI’s performance, existing and emerging capacity building needs, how these institutions go about addressing these training needs, and how the JVI could best support these capacity building efforts.

A few common themes emerged from the discussions:

• There was unanimous appreciation for the quality and importance of the training received at the JVI, which remains the training provider of choice for most of these institutions. 
• Training needs in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan continue to exceed the training supply from the JVI. We had rich discussions on possible strategies to address these large training needs, which could rely on a mix of in-house resources, partnerships with academic institutions in country, available online resources (such as IMF online training), and recourse to training provided by partners such as the JVI. The JVI, of course, will continue to do its utmost to best support these countries and institutions.
• Many participants from these countries continue to appreciate the interpreted courses. 

I am very grateful for the time my interlocutors dedicated to these discussions, and more generally for the warm welcome I got from them, which was up to the region’s reputation for incredible hospitality! I hope to be able to visit more countries in the JVI region in the coming year.

Hervé Joly, Director, JVI