Parliamentarians of Sweden told how business community of Kyrgyzstan defends its rights

Bishkek, April 13, 2022. / Kabar /. Askar Sydykov, Executive Director of the International Business Council (IBC), took part in a meeting of representatives of the civil and business community with deputies of the Parliament (Riksdag) of the Kingdom of Sweden, the IBC said. The representatives of civil society told the guests about difficulties with respect for human rights and freedom of speech in Kyrgyzstan, and raised a number of other issues. Askar Sydykov briefly spoke about the general situation with doing business in Kyrgyzstan, the main difficulties faced by the business community. A public-private dialogue is actively developing in the country, the head of the IBC noted. “Business always has the opportunity to talk directly, offer, discuss with every government agency and with the country's leadership on all pressing issues,” he said. Swedish parliamentarians were interested in how the business of Kyrgyzstan is involved in the promotion of human rights. “As far as possible, we do not stand aside,” Askar Sydykov replied. — We are not limited only to business and economic issues, but we try to respond to human rights issues as well. An example of this is our work on a number of codes adopted last year - Criminal, Criminal Procedure and Administrative. For each of them, we gave our comments and suggestions, and some of our suggestions were taken into account. The public-private dialogue continues, and every year the business community of Kyrgyzstan is increasingly defending its rights.” Members of the Swedish Parliament arrived in Kyrgyzstan for a learning exchange visit from 10 to 15 April 2022. The delegation includes of Margareta Cederfeldt, Moderate Party, Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and OSCE PA President, Gudrun Brunegård, Christian Democratic Party, Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Party ODA Policy Spokesperson, Janine Alm Ericson, Green Party, Former State Secretary of International Development Cooperation, Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Håkan Svenneling, Left Party, Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Foreign Policy Spokesperson, Yasmine Posio, Left Party, Member of the Foreign Affairs CommitteeWHAT: Mission to the Kyrgyz Republic. The visit was organized by the UNDP Resident Mission in the Kyrgyz Republic together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Nordic Office of the UN Development Programs.