General news

(post: 15/03/2026)

CAΔ² Kick-off in Almaty

In March, Hilfswerk International in Central Asia and the Geological Survey of Slovenia met with colleagues from the Uspanov Kazakh Scientific Research Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry and the Akhmedsafin Institute of Hydrogeology and Environmental Geoscience in Almaty, Kazakhstan, to establish a working group and advance the project proposal “CAΔ² – Multi‑type environmental data analysis and capacity building in the Turkistan Region, Kazakhstan.”

We look forward to continued collaboration and joint progress ahead!

(post: 15/12/2025)

Tiny Atlas of Tasty Products

During the project GI DEV, Hilfswerk International edited an atlas presenting three products – Ashtak from Asht, At-Bashi White Honey, and the Almaty Aport. Check our project page and discover our little atlas with plenty of information and beautiful maps.

Visit the news page of the CAWG to find out more!

Seminar on GI registration

With the support of WIPO and jointly with KASFPI and the participation of the Committee on Intellectual Property Rights of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Hilfswerk International held a seminar for members of the national interdepartmental working group on GI in Kazakhstan.

Visit the news page of the CAWG to find out more!

GIs in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan

From October 2 to 13, 2025, a series of working events were held in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan as part of the Hilfswerk International project, supported by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The events were aimed at developing the geographical indication (GI) system and promoting local products with unique quality characteristics.

Visit the news page of the CAWG to find out more!

Ashtak from Asht

The Asht District in the project GI DEV project: Support for the development of GI systems in Central Asia – promotion of previously identified GI

Visit the news page of the CAWG to find out more!

Almaty Aport

The Almaty Region in the project GI DEV project: Support and promotion of GI

Visit the news page of the CAWG to find out more!

Hilfswerk and GeoZS

Mid of April, Hilfswerk International met with the Geological Survey of Slovenia (GeoZS) at the Kazakh National Agrarian Research University (KazNARU) in Almaty for:

  • project discussions in the field of geochemistry and agriculture
  • designing the GI terroir (production zone) map for the Almaty Aport Apple

Visit to the Ashtak Producers

In October 2024, we visited the producers of the Ashtak Dried Apricot in the Sughd Region in Tajikistan to draw an exact map of the terroir (production zone) for the process of GI registration in our new project GI DEV.

Visit our GI GIS page and discover:

  • a printable map as PDF
  • an online interactive map

Our web administrator also wrote a travel report in the geologic journal GEOLOGIJA.

Hilfswerk in the GEO-Conference EGU24

In April 2024, Hilfswerk International presented its role as project implementor in Central Asia.
Watch here the presentation on our YouTube-Channel.

Hilfswerk in the biggest GEO-Conference

In April 2024, the annual General Assembly of the European Geoscience Union takes place in Vienna. We take part in Europe’s biggest geo-conference with a presentation on Hilfswerk International’s outreach activities in Central Asia.

New GI map for the Khorezm Melon

This time, our web administrator went on tour!

Together with our local specialists in Uzbekistan and the Urgench State University, we prepared an exact map of the production zone of the Khorezm Melon.

Try out the first interactive map of our application GI GIS; instructions are available in all Central Asian languages.

New GI from Central Asia

Find the booklet on the geographical indications of

  • Asht Dried Apricot (Sughd)
  • Khorezm Melon (Khorezm, Karakalpakstan)
  • Almaty Aport (Alma-Ata Region)
  • At-Bashinsky White Honey (Naryn)

in our publications in Russian, English and Tajik.

Formation of a New Technical Working Group

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
May 29, 2020

In Kyrgyzstan, a national technical group has been formed to increase the recognition and reputation of domestic products through geographical indications and appellations of origin.

How to create lasting change and impact?

Find here the full article on empowering SMEs, on women’s contributions to economic growth and on the implementation of ambitious market reforms in Central Asia.

Multilingual publications

In our project sections, you will find publications from recent years in six languages: in Russian, English, Tajik, Uzbek, Kyrgyz and Kazakh.

ProYouth news

New film on the project ProYouth

Check our new film on our successful activities! There is more to watch in our video gallery and on YouTube:

  • Channel of Hilfswerk International (Austria)
  • Channel of Hilfswerk International (Tajikistan)

Find more information in our publications in several languages.

HECAFS news

The first scientific article of Hilfswerk!

We are happy to announce that we published our first scientific article at the Osh State University, Osh, Kyrgyzstan.
It outlines our activities over the last 15 years within the projects AgroDev, HECAFS and CANDY I-V.

HACCP Videos for HECAFS

In our publications you find five new videos on HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) related to the HECAFS project. They are available in Russian and Tajik.