The Tajik and Russian sides are currently working on developing an investment agreement that will allow the launch of a joint project to create an industrial park in Dushanbe, and in 2026 it is planned to carry out all construction and installation work on its territory. This became known at the presentation of the project, which took place within the framework of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), TASS reports.
An intergovernmental agreement on the creation of an industrial park in the capital of Tajikistan was signed in March during the official visit of the President of the Republic Emomali Rahmon to Moscow.
"At the moment, we are working on a draft investment agreement, which provides all the grounds and conditions for mutual actions on this project. I really hope that in the near future we will be able to agree on all the main points and sign this agreement," said the Chairman of the State Committee for Investments and State Property Management of Tajikistan, Sulton Rahimzoda.
According to him, such an agreement is a unique mechanism for attracting investments, since after signing it must be ratified by the Tajik parliament, which "guarantees higher protection of investors' interests and their investments in the economy of Tajikistan." Rahimzoda noted that the implementation of this project will give a new impetus to Tajik-Russian cooperation in the field of investments. He added that in recent years, Russia has occupied a leading position in trade turnover with the republic and second place in the volume of investments.
It is noted that the priority areas in this project are light industry, medical equipment and machine tool manufacturing.
The 20,000 square meter industrial park will be located in the currently unused production facilities of a machine-building plant – next to the airport, railway and highway. This territory is already equipped with all the necessary infrastructure connections.
The Tajik side has already agreed on preferences for future residents of the park: in particular, a 50% discount on land tax, corporate income tax and VAT, a complete exemption from paying insurance premiums, as well as zero customs duties and VAT on the import of goods from the Russian Federation used in production on the territory of the industrial park will be provided.
Rahimzoda expressed the opinion that Tajikistan, along with Uzbekistan, could become a "gateway" to the region for Russian companies. He cited several factors that contribute to this: stable economic growth in the republic by an average of 7.5% over the past 10 years, low inflation, opportunities for expanding ties with neighboring Afghanistan and China, and the creation of environmentally friendly products based on renewable energy sources, which the republic is rich in.