22.01.2024 13:20, Qatar

Dear friends!

At the outset, I would like to welcome all the participants and wish success in today’s Forum.

I hope that this Forum will give a serious impetus to the development of our cooperation.

It is a great pleasure to note that Tajikistan and the State of Qatar are continuously developing friendly relations and multifaceted partnership based on mutual understanding, trust and respect.

The development and expansion of this process will enable our countries to create favorable conditions for achieving common goals — common development and ensuring a decent life for our people.

A constructive political dialogue has been established between Tajikistan and Qatar, which determines the priority dimensions of our bilateral relations in various areas.

Therefore, I find today’s event as a favorable opportunity to better present the real potential for trade, economic and investment cooperation between the two friendly and brotherly countries.

In this regard, I would like to draw your attention to the current economic situation of Tajikistan and certain prospective areas of cooperation.

First of all, it is important to note about the macroeconomic stability we have ensured in Tajikistan.

The GDP growth rate in the last 20 years has been more than 7% on average.

Now we are making all efforts possible to maintain these indicators and gradually increase them.

Particularly, in 2023, the GDP growth rate reached 8.3%, and the inflation rate was 3.8%.

In this way, we are taking necessary measures for the further development of strategic and priority sectors, in particular, energy, transport, industry, agriculture, telecommunications, finance, banking and tourism.

Today, more than 720 public investment projects worth more than 13.8 billion US dollars are under implementation in our country.

Attracting investments to various sectors of the economy and entrepreneurship development is one of the priority areas in the economic policy of the Government of Tajikistan.

In this context, within the implementation of the strategic goals of the country, vast opportunities for investment are created, and tax and customs incentives and guarantees are applied widely.

  Our current legislation provides more than 240 types of guarantees and incentives for investors, including more than 110 tax and customs incentives.

Tajikistan’s membership in the World Trade Organization and accession to a number of international conventions on the protection of investors’ rights is also evidence of our legislation compliance to international standards.

Tajikistan has established effective cooperation with all international financial institutions and currently it enjoys economic relations with 110 countries of the world.

Now our country has a  multi-sector economy with developing  perspective, where necessary measures are constantly taken in order to promote entrepreneurship and investment, and to create favorable working conditions.

At the same time, the implementation of reforms on protection of the rights of investors continues to comply with international standards.

Dear participants!

Trade, economic, and investment cooperation are among the priority areas of our relations.

The continuous high-level meetings between our countries demonstrate the eagerness of the parties in further expansion of relations.

During the state visit of the Emir of the State of Qatar His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Ali Soni to Tajikistan, we discussed a wide range of important issues of bilateral relations, further strengthening of the legal framework and prospects for their development and expansion.

During today’s high-level meetings and negotiations, we intend to continue discussion of the ways of further expansion of relations between the two countries in the economic, trade, investment and other areas of mutual interest, and strengthen them with practical measures.

In this regard, I would like to express my opinion about some specific prospective directions of cooperation.

Tajikistan has abundant natural resources, especially water and minerals.

Our country ranks 8^th in terms of total hydropower capacities, and 2^nd in terms of generation volume per capita in the world.

In Tajikistan, where 93 percent of its territory is mountainous, 13 thousand glaciers are the main sources of drinking water and it accounts to 60 percent of the water resources of the Central Asian region.

The world’s future development is highly dependent on the generation of green energy as the foundation for the formation of the green economy.

Taking into account this factor and existing natural resources, the hydropower sector is considered the most important pillar for ensuring the sustainable development of our country.

In this regard, the construction of hydropower facilities, first of all, the construction of hydropower plants and power transmission lines is important for us.

These days we are constructing Roghun HPP with the capacity of 3600 megawatts, which as the largest hydropower plant has the potential to supply our country and the region with electricity.

By implementing this and other hydropower projects, we can double the generation of green energy.

At the same time, Tajikistan contributes to the effective management of water resources and irrigation and to the food security in the region.

We plan to increase the energy capacity of the country by 4000 megawatts in the near future thanks to the construction of new and rehabilitation of the existing HPPs.

Currently, only 6% of Tajikistan’s 530 billion kilowatts/hour hydropower potential have been used.

At the same time, 98 percent of electricity in Tajikistan is generated from renewable sources, and our country is among the six lead countries in the world according to this indicator.

Considering this aspect, the production of all types of goods in our country is included in the category of «green production».

Therefore, companies operating in Tajikistan have the opportunity to obtain a «green production» certificate from specialized international authorities.

Tajikistan is among the top five producers of green aluminum in the world, and the products of the TALCO aluminum company have a green certificate.

Tajikistan’s aluminum products and lithium resources available in the country provide favorable conditions for the production of electric vehicles. That’s the two main types of materials for the production of electric cars available in our country.

Industrial production can be another future direction of our cooperation.

One of the main goals of the 2030 National Development Strategy of the Republic of Tajikistan is the accelerated industrialization of the country.

Implementation of projects in the light industry, food, metallurgy, machine building, chemistry, production of construction materials and pharmaceuticals sectors is in our priority.

Tajikistan is rich of mineral resources. This factor has established a stable basis for the development of the mining industry.

Some 800 deposits of minerals, rare and precious metals, including copper, silver, gold, lead, lithium, antimony, nickel, tungsten, vanadium and other rare minerals have been discovered and partially prepared for exploitation in the territory of Tajikistan.

Of this number, more than 40 types of minerals are currently mined in the deposits under usage.

Along with necessary mineral resources, extraction of precious and semi-precious stones, as well as rock salt, has good prospects.

It is worth noting that the reserves of food salt in Tajikistan amount to more than 72 billion tons, which are sufficient to meet the consumption needs of all inhabitants of the planet for this product for more than 300 years.

Effective use of opportunities in the mentioned sectors requires introducing modern technologies and investment.

It is worth mentioning that the formation of industrial zones is currently underway in several parts of the country.

These regions will incorporate the production of metallurgical, cement, textile, sewing, oil refining and chemical industry products.

We also have five free economic zones operating in Tajikistan. They provide favorable conditions for foreign investors and enterprises.

Qatari companies can effectively and actively participate in the production activities of these regions.

Agriculture is one of the most important and priority sectors in the country’s development.

Favorable conditions for investment and expansion of effective cooperation in this area are in place.

Favorable climate and abundant water resources make it possible to grow ecologically clean vegetables and fruits in Tajikistan and get 3-4 yield from one plot of land.

Cooperation in the fields of animal husbandry and apiculture, cultivation, processing and export of fruits and vegetables, technical products such as cotton, medicinal plants and other agricultural products will also be economically beneficial.

Tajikistan continuously undertakes measures to improve its transport infrastructure.

Four of the six transport corridors of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Program (CAREC) pass through the territory of Tajikistan.

Therefore, the use of the territory of Tajikistan for transit of goods from China to the countries of Central and South Asia reduces the delivery time and distance from 1200 kilometers to 2000 kilometers.

Our country ranks 50th in the world in terms of the quality of highways, which is the highest indicator in the region.

We welcome the investments on establishment of logistics centers.

We also encourage cooperation with Qatar in the field of civil aviation.

Another priority area that I would like to draw your attention to is tourism.

Mountainous Tajikistan, which has beautiful nature, rare flora and fauna, and unique historical and cultural sites, has a lot of opportunities for the development of this sector, especially mountaineering, ecological and recreational tourism, as well as hunting.

The government of the country pays special attention to the strengthening and expansion of the infrastructure of the tourism sector through the use of small and medium business opportunities and the attraction of foreign investment.

We have provided attractive incentives and privileges for investors and companies In this direction over the last five years.

The import of goods and equipment for the construction of tourist facilities are exempted from customs duty and value added tax, newly established companies of the sector are also exempted from profit tax for a period of five years.

At the same time, we introduced a unilateral 30-day visa-free regime for citizens of a number of countries, including the State of Qatar.

Dear friends,

The Government of Tajikistan stands ready to carefully review and support the proposals of Qatari investors for establishing beneficial cooperation in the earlier mentioned priority areas.

At the conclusion, I would like to avail this opportunity to invite you to visit Tajikistan in order to get acquainted with the possibilities of cooperation in our country in various areas of mutual interest.

I believe that you will get a good and memorable impression from visiting our hospitable and beautiful country.

I thank you for your attention!