Tajik authorities intend to encourage migrants’ remittance flow to the country’s economy. For this, they are considering the possibility of setting up the fund for attraction of investments from compatriots living aboard.
This idea was expressed by President Emomali Rahmon at the International Entrepreneurship Forum that took place in Dushanbe on October 16.
"The idea is that many our compatriots living abroad have opportunities to invest in their homeland’s economy and Tajikistan needs financial resources for implementation of many projects,” the head of the Council for improvement Investment Climate under the President of Tajikistan, Sharaf Sheralizoda, told Asia-Plus in an interview.
“It is still an idea and it is necessary to think thing through. First of all, it is necessary to work out a mechanism of attraction of compatriots’ investments and efficient use of these funds,” Sheralizoda said.
According to him, this idea is based on international practice as well as experiences of such countries as Armenia, the Philippines and others.
Tajik citizens began leaving their homeland for seeking better employment opportunities in the 1990s. Tajik nationals travel primarily to the Russian Federation but also to neighboring Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
According to information of the Russian Interior Ministry’s Main Directorate for Migration, 2.1 million Tajik citizens were registered last year and 937,000 of them arrived in Russia for seasonal work; 440,000 of them received work permits.
The share of officially working Tajik labor migrants in the total number of those employed in Russia economy is 0/6 percent and their contribution to Russia’s gross domestic product (GDP) amounts to 550 billion rubles.
If we take into account illegally working Tajik labor migrants, the share of Tajik labor migrants in the total number of those employed in Russia economy will be 1.3 percent and their contribution to Russia’s gross domestic product (GDP) will be 1.2 trillion rubles.
There are many highly-qualified specialists and scientists among Tajiks working abroad. Thus, 340 highly-qualified specialists worked in Russia last year.
Over the past decade, 230 candidates of sciences and doctors of sciences have left Tajikistan for Russia.
Many Tajiks working in Russia received Russian citizenship. According to figures for the past 2 ½ years, the number of Tajiks receiving Russian citizenship was 68,400 people.
In 2017, 2.6 billon U.S. dollars wee remitted to Tajikistan from Russia through money transfer systems, which is equal to 37 percent of Tajikistan/s GDP.
Labor migration plays a decisive role in keeping Tajikistan’s economy afloat.
More people are on the move around the world than ever before. An estimated 258 million people are currently living outside their country of origin. As they settle into life in their host countries, they acquire new skills and know-how. And they contribute to their families and communities in their country of origin by sending money home. Financial remittances have been recognized as an important developmental vehicle associated with migration.
Governments can create an enabling environment to encourage remittance flows to productive sectors of the economy. Diaspora communities have habitually been important contributors to development in their countries of origin through financial flows, such as remittances, investment and trade, and the transfer of skills and social, cultural and technological capital. Governments can create stable environments which encourage diaspora members’ financial and social engagement with their countries of origin through incentives and policies such as tax breaks, financial products, financial literacy and access, savings products, entrepreneurship opportunities, and simplified entry and residence schemes.
