Turkmen women are increasingly turning traditional folk crafts into entrepreneurial projects. This was reported by Jennet Ovekova, a member of the Mejlis of Turkmenistan and a member of the Committee on Legislation and its Norms, in an interview with the newspaper ‘Neutral Turkmenistan’, according to Turkmenportal.

According to her, changes in the country's economy have given a powerful impetus to the development of crafts. Women are opening workshops for the production of carpets and carpet products, workshops for sewing national clothing and hand embroidery, and are establishing the production of koshma — a thick, felted wool rug, blanket, or mat often used in Central Asia as a floor covering — not only in the capital and large cities, but also in small towns and villages.

‘Turkmen women are actively involved in the craft industry, turning family traditions of carpet weaving, koshma production, national women's clothing and hand embroidery into entrepreneurial projects,’ Ovekova noted.

Particular attention is paid to carpet weaving. The art of hand-weaving carpets has been passed down from generation to generation, and in 2019, Turkmen carpet weaving was included in UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The development of women's entrepreneurship is facilitated by state support: women are provided with preferential loans to start a business and the opportunity to use land plots on a long-term basis. According to the deputy, the number of successful women entrepreneurs in Turkmenistan is growing every year.