Investment cooperation between EDB and Tajikistan was discussed at a roundtable
Dushanbe, 12 February 2013. Fostering investment cooperation between Tajikistan and Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) has become the main topic of a roundtable held today in Dushanbe in the framework of the EDB management’s visit to Tajikistan.
The forum welcomed heads of Tajik ministries and authorities, the EDB delegation headed by Igor Finogenov, Chairman of the Management Board, and businesspeople from Tajikistan and Kazakhstan.
Matlubkhon Davlatov, First Vice Prime Minister of Tajikistan, and Igor Finogenov expressed the mutual interest of the sides in strengthening investment cooperation in order to promote the economic development of Tajikistan and integration between the Bank’s member states.
In particular, Matlubkhon Davlatov said that the Tajik government was impressed with the Bank’s successful operation and that it had become a reliable and streamlined mechanism fostering integration in the post-Soviet space. He also emphasised that since the beginning of its operation in Tajikistan the Bank had financed the construction of a cutting-edge spinning mill in Sughd Province to the tune of US $29 million and provided a US $6 million loan to a local commercial bank for providing micro-loans to the country’s small and medium-sized businesses. Both projects were a success and impacted positively the socioeconomic development of Tajikistan.
Igor Finogenov said that the current scale of cooperation between the Bank and Tajikistan did not match the country’s potential and investment opportunities. He said the Bank was ready to support socioeconomic development projects in Tajikistan in the key sectors such as agriculture (creating vertically integrated agricultural enterprises), the power sector and industrial production, on the terms acceptable to the country.
Reports were made on the investment climate in Tajikistan and its investment opportunities and on the Bank’s investment strategy and financial products that could be successfully used to implement investment projects in the country. The representatives from EDB also told about the Bank’s current and forthcoming projects fulfilled in Tajikistan via the EurAsEC Anti-Crisis Fund and the Bank’s Technical Assistance Fund. The presentation on the Bank’s investment strategy included a special emphasis on the projects involving the generation, transit and export of electric power and fostering the use of the country’s hydropower potential.
After the forum the sides signed the Joint Statement of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan and the Management of Eurasian Development Bank on the Strengthening of Cooperation. The document was signed by Matlubkhon Davlatov, First Vice Prime Minister of Tajikistan, and Igor Finogenov, Chairman of the EDB Management Board, and states the parties’ intention to develop mutually beneficial cooperation in implementing investment projects in Tajikistan in the financial sector, telecommunications, light and food industries, the power sector, agriculture, non-ferrous metallurgy, mining and transport.
Additional Information
The Republic of Tajikistan became a fully-fledged member of Eurasian Development Bank in June 2009. Tajikistan’s contribution to the Bank’s authorised capital is US $500,000. In October 2009 the Government of and EDB entered into the Agreement on the Terms of the Bank’s Residence on the Territory of Tajikistan, which was later ratified by the country’s Parliament. EDB’s investment in the Tajik economy has already reached US $35.5 million. In particular, the Bank financed the construction of the Olim Textile spinning mill and supplies of feedstock for it and the microlending programme of Tajprombank. In addition, in 2010 EBD, as the Resources Manager of the EurAsEC Anti-Crisis Fund, transferred to the Government of Tajikistan a financial credit of US $70 million to finance the social sphere and improve public finance management.
Eurasian Development Bank is an international financial institution founded by Russia and Kazakhstan in January 2006 with the mission to facilitate the development of market economies, sustainable economic growth and the expansion of mutual trade and other economic ties in its member states. EDB’s charter capital exceeds US $1.5 billion. The member states of the Bank are the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, and the Republic of Tajikistan. Read more at https://www.eabr.org.