Postcard from Bishkek

There was no great ceremony, just a group of people signing a series of documents which were then handed over to a lawyer who had the task of registering them with the authorities.  That was already sixteen years ago, on 26th June, 1997.

Of course, the new company didn’t just appear “out of nowhere” – we had all been interested in working in the new and vibrant country that was forming a reputation as “the ‘nice guys’ of Central Asia.  With the break up of the Soviet Union there seemed to be ample opportunity to participate in an emerging economy that looked like having a considerable potential for development.

There had been discussions in the preceding months about what sort of investment we might want to pursue and one of the various options was in buying a Chicken farm that had yet to be privatized.   I was responsible for preparing all the spreadsheet forecasts and, actually, it looked to me to be quite a promising prospect.  To be honest, I really knew virtually next to nothing about poultry farming apart from having worked on one for a few days as a holiday when I was still at school – just a few days because I was squeamish about slaughtering the birds and decided to give it up and look for work elsewhere.  All the same, I threw myself into research – and these were the days when information was harder to come by because the internet was still in its infancy.

To be fair, I had also taken a two week course in college on Nutrition and Society in which we looked at “Factory Farming” – or perhaps I should have said “Intensive Farming Methods” and I think that the “experts” I interviewed for the final report were somewhat upset by my insistence on using “emotive terms” in my questions.

And, as a teacher of computing, we had examined several examples of computer use in monitoring, feeding and care of livestock on farms – but that was mainly to do with cattle and milk production … although one case study did concern a chicken farm.

Even so, I was happier with that particular potential project than I was with the prospect of Chicken farm rather most of the others that we looked at.  When people ask me “Why?”, the answer is simple: “People have to eat …”, in other words, I could see customers … lots of them … and repeat customers at that; people who would buy our products over and over again.

What’s more, eggs are not just just little “power houses of energy”, (as the slogan of the British Egg Marketing Board used to put it), and extremely versatile with a myriad of possible uses – virtually everything associated with the production process can be sold.  Although “egg layers” don’t provide the best meat, (different breeds are raised for this), the carcasses can still be used; the feathers can be used for stuffing cushions etc.; even the “unmentionable” can be sold as fertilizer.

Unfortunately, (I thought at the time), a scandal broke about some other Privatization projects and so the President issued an ukaz, a Decree, forbidding any further privatization of agricultural enterprises, and so the project ground to a halt.  Even though I was disappointed at the time, I have to admit now, however, that I am grateful that he did this … as the price of eggs in the marketplace plummeted and all the optimistic predictions of my spreadsheet scenarios “went out of the window”.

 

So, we started looking at other options … and tourism migrated “to the top of the pack”.

Now, I could see lots of advantages to the proposal … Kyrgyzstan, for example, is rich in tourism potential whether it be the landscape; the variety of activities that can be undertaken and possibilities for “adventure”; the historical connections with the Great Silk Road, historical characters such as Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Tamerlane, Babur, … and so on … and not forgetting the “Great Game” and the Soviet Union, culminating in the dramatic and exciting times a newly emerging nation; the climate, vegetation and wildlife which offers a little bit of everything; the traditional nomadic lifestyle of the Kyrgyz … and so on.

Above all else, it was also a relatively unknown entity in the West.  Although there were a number of Joint Ventures, where foreigners had invested in a local company – there were no other “foreign” owned companies based her.

There were also a number of problems … some of which are still us … such as the:

• the formalities,  including
• • the need for and difficulty in obtaining Visas,
  • • which has been somewhat simplified with the adoption of a Simplified Visa regime and later the introduction of a Non-Visa regime for a string of “developed” countries – and should soon get easier for the other countries as well with the introduction of an electronic visa;
  • OVIR registration – the need to register with the authorities within three days of arrival in the country,
  • • a requirement which has been eased and is now restricted to those who have to have a visa or a few special cases where someone is staying in the country longer than a month;
  • the need to obtain special permits to visit certain parts of the country,
  • • the number of which have been reduced with the abolition of the “alp tour zones” – which used to cover many of the mountain regions, including some of the National Parks – and now are required for just some of the border zones, areas near the borders – hence the name;
  • Customs procedures,
  • • which were simplified with the abolition of the need to present a copy of the customs declaration completed on entry to the country when the person left, and the introduction of a new system that required a declaration form be completed only if there was something to declare or a special regime had been enacted – for example to combat a terrorist threat; the introduction of a “Green Corridor” …  and so on;
  • The need to obtain permission to export souvenirs,
  • • which was removed for most cases when the list of items that did require a permit was changed so that more of less anything – other than “prohibited items” – less than 50 years old didn’t need one.
• problems of getting into the country,
• • which, fortunately has eased considerably with an increasing number of flights using Bishkek’s Manas airport – not forgetting the international status of Osh, Tamchi – and Karakol airports;
• the lack of facilities, which were centralized mainly around Lake Issyk Kul,
• • although there has been  a lot of developments in recent years … many of them, to be fair, still concentrated around the Lake but also throughout the country as whole – especially here in Bishkek where the number of hotels and places of entertainment has increased considerably;
  • this, in turn, has meant that there is more to offer tourists in being able to reach new place, “off the beaten track”, new and expanded opportunities for activities;
• the level of service, which, (although there were exceptions), was pretty basic back in 1997;
• • there’s been somewhat of a “sea change” with a move away from the “That’s what we have to offer – take it or leave it” approach to a more customer orientated approach, which recognizes that the customer isn’t always right and cannot do exactly as he pleases simply because he’s “footing the bill” but does acknowledge that he needs to receive goods and services that he is paying for, and that as he is “paying the piper” he can at least “call the tune” and make requests.

I could cite more examples, but suffice it to say that, (even if it sometimes seems that the problems before us are insurmountable), things are changing – and usually for the better.  Progress is being made, albeit slowly … step by step … but surely.

That doesn’t mean to say that everything is perfect … there is still a lot that can be done to improve the situation – further visa liberalization; adopting an Open Skies policy; developing new road and rail links into and around the country; encouraging development of more facilities, especially in the regions which have so much to offer but find it difficult to attract visitors; work developing the country’s human resources – not just those who work in tourism, but amongst the population as a whole; and so on … and so on …. and so on.

Sometimes, when we look back and see what has already been achieved, it seems that is that we have jumped straight out the nineteenth into the twenty first century … BUT … the biggest problem that we faced back when we established the Celestial Mountains Tour Company back in 1997, is still one that we face today … the need to constantly attract new visitors.

Whereas, in the case of a chicken farm, I could take comfort ion the fact that “people have to eat”, and so I could see a line of potential customers that could be persuaded to buy our eggs … in the case of a tour company, the question of holidays is a discretionary item of expenditure … they don’t have to go on holiday, and even if they decide that a holiday is a “must”, (as the public opinion pollsters tell the Brits have decided), then the task of getting them to choose Kyrgyzstan is a monumental one – after all, they “have the world at their feet.”

As I often say, there’s something here for just about everyone … you just have to know about it … and find it – no easy task for a visitor here for a limited time.

For someone who lives thousands of miles (or kilometers) away and who has hardly ever heard of Kyrgyzstan, (and what they have heard has negative connotations: about revolutions, bride kidnappings and all sorts of social upheaval), the potential attractiveness of Kyrgyzstan can be far from obvious … especially when they have to face difficulties like applying for visas – and there are still some who have to do so; that face a difficult journey to get here; that have unrealistic expectations about what to expect in terms of facilities and levels of service and

To be frank, however, I consider myself lucky in that I live here:  I know the potential; I see in all around me and I experience it almost every day.

 

Please don’t misunderstand me … I am not saying that all is “hunk Dory” – far from it.  Despite the Kyrgyz legend about how this land was intended by God to be kept as his private garden, Kyrgyzstan is not, by any means, paradise … there are problems and difficulties: there are formalities to be gone through; access to the country is not always easy; not all the facilities are modern and state of the art; not everyone is welcoming … but that could be said about many other destinations, (if not most), in the world today.

Also, it has to be admitted that there are some visitors who go away disappointed with their experiences here … but, once again, that also true of many, (in not most – if not all), destinations around the world today … and, in my experience, they are by far outnumbered by those who wish that they could have spent longer here, or who want to find the time and the opportunity to come back.

The irony is that Kyrgyzstan does have a lot to offer to those who are willing to “take the plunge” and pay us a visit … especially if they come with an open heart and mind and, (even if they also come with preconceived ideas – which, admittedly, I did back in 1995), they are sufficiently open minded to challenge those assumptions of what to expect.

In a way, it’s a Catch 22 situation: No-one will come to Kyrgyzstan if they don’t know anything about us … but because so few people come, no-one will tell them about us.  It’s a “vicious circle” out of which we have to break …

Tags: Calendar, Celestial_Mountains, Tourism