The EU-funded Border Management Programme in Central Asia (BOMCA) hosted on Thursday the online webinar in Turkmenistan to share EU best practices in providing a coordinated response to the coronavirus pandemic in the strategically important area of border management, European External Action Service said in its press release.
Over 20 representatives of border, migration, customs, phyto-veto sanitary and sanitary-epidemiological agencies of Turkmenistan exchanged with their Latvian counterparts from the Ministry of Health, State Border Guard, State Revenue Service and Food and Veterinary Service the insights about practical solutions for preventing the spread of coronavirus infection at a strategic level.
According to the statement, the EU-BOMCA is committed through partnerships with Central Asian Governments to support and equip the Border Agencies for advancing their capacities to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first BOMCA operations in Central Asia began in 2003. The European Union allocated €40.1 million to BOMCA for the period of 2003 – 2020; out of this amount €6.6 million was assigned to its 9th implementation phase (2015 - 2020). The main strategy of the BOMCA Program is to promote the stability and security of the countries of Central Asia through integrated border management and regional cooperation.
BOMCA also provides assistance to Central Asian countries in their pursuit of regional economic development and facilitates trade in Central Asia, with neighboring countries and between the countries of Central Asia and the EU member states.
