The Apple Festival has become a good tradition and a promising platform for farmers and other actors of the agri-industrial sector across Kyrgyzstan. Annually, the Festival is hosted by Kompanion Bank in cooperation with partners and representatives of local authorities.
This year’s Apple Festival took place on September 21 in the central square of Tokmok town. More than 500 people attended the event, including local residents and entrepreneurs of Chui and Issyk-Kul areas.
Apart from the Agri Fair, the program of the Festival included the following:
- the Apple Parade, which showcased delicious varieties of apples;
- performances of expatriate communities;
- colorful performances prepared by students of Tokmok schools and creative clubs;
- competitions and gifts from Kompanion Bank.
At the Festival, visitors participated in all kinds of master classes—orcharding, solar power utilization, national handicrafts—as well as financial literacy training sessions. Farmers had the opportunity to sell their products and establish partnerships with potential wholesale customers. Local people noted that this was an exciting and memorable event for Tokmok town; everyone had a great time and will long remember this year’s Apple Festival.
Kompanion Bank is the only bank in Kyrgyzstan that has a fully functional Community Training & Support Department with a team of 30 accomplished agronomists and veterinarians. Since 2005, the team has been providing various sorts of training for remote rural communities, including Eco-Garden; Livestock & Pasture Land Management; Financial Literacy. With these knowledge and skills behind them, local communities are empowered to improve the quality of their crops, increase cattle productivity and manage their family budgets more wisely. Eventually, Kompanion’s initiatives add to the quality of daily life in the rural areas and help people increase their income. In 2018, Kompanion’s agronomists and veterinarians provided 2,550 training sessions covering 120 villages across Kyrgyzstan.
Today, Kompanion is a sustainable financial institution with 15 years of experience that provides a full range of banking services. The Bank has gained confidence of 100,000+ clients all over the country. For the benefit of clients, Kompanion’s branch network consists of 105 offices across Kyrgyzstan. At Kompanion Bank, special attention has always been paid to community-focused activities that support the people of Kyrgyzstan and contribute to their development and well-being.
