Economic Growth Of Post-Soviet Central Asian Countries: Can Microentrepreneurship Play A Role?

Abstract

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics broke down in 1991 giving birth to 15 Newly Independent States. Soon after independence, all post-Soviet states engaged in reforming their economies by abandoning the Gosplan-style central planning. In their quest for economic growth, all 15 States formed trade unions; however, these trade unions did not lead to any significant regional growth. On the other hand, both group-based and individual microcredit operations, conducted through microfinance institutes succeeded in four out of the five post-Soviet Central Asian Countries. This paper analyzed 43 microfinance institutes in 4 post-Soviet Central Asian Countries and found that there was significant prospect for the development of microentrepreneurship in the region. In order to promote economic growth, the author recommends formation of a consortium of microfinance institutes in the region with membership of all five countries. Further studies are needed to ascertain the growth prospect of the post-Soviet Central Asian Countries through the development of microentrepreneurship.