Over the last two years, TPAF has given increasing priority to the establishment of Tibetan-managed township and village enterprises as a way of stimulating local employment and income generation, while providing essential rural services. TPAF has adopted a comprehensive approach, stressing the need for improved vocational skills, as well as basic sound enterprise management practices and access to credit for initial capital and recurrent cost requirements. It generally provides support to small enterprises with personnel who have received TPAF employable skills training.
In Nakchu Prefecture, this has so far included motorcycle maintenance and repair servicing enterprises (6), rural housing construction service teams (14), and one cooperative greenhouse. In the latter part of 2007 and 2008, TPAF intends to support additional enterprises formed by Tibetans receiving training during 2007 in housing construction, motorcycle repair, agricultural machinery repair, and stone cutting in Nakchu Prefecture and Namling County. To support these initiatives, TPAF is currently establishing a small enterprise loan revolving fund in collaboration with the Agricultural Bank of China.