DUSHANBE, June 4, Asia-Plus — “Due to support of our well-wishers we have managed to come out of crisis and started transition to real market relations, heading for sustainable development,” President Emomali Rahmon remarked at a meeting of the Consultative Group of Donors (Tajikistan Development Forum) in Dushanbe on June 2.
The president noted that over the past six years, the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) has increased by more than 80 percent, a volume of production of industrial goods has doubled, and Tajikistan’s external debt has decreased from 90% to 30% of GDP.
Reminding that sustainable development of macroeconomic potential, enhancement of investment climate, development of small and medium enterprises, as well as further development of democracy is to be observed, the president noted that all this has been taken into consideration in the national development strategy for 2007-2015.
“Providing increased and sustainable economic growth is the main direction of further development,” Rahmon said.
Rahmon identified sectors like hydropower, construction of roads and bridges, power transmission lines, and agriculture as priorities of the country’s economy.
“However, the final result also depends on cooperation with partners, including international financial institutions,” said the president, “But these institutions pay more attention to poor countries in Africa, while such countries are also in Asia and on other continents.”
Dwelling on issues related to tackling debt crisis of the country’s cotton sector, Emomali Rahmon critically noted that “there are still only words and there is no real passage to deed.”
Speaking to journalists, Rahmon reminded that last year, the International Monetary Fund wrote off nearly a $100 million debt of Tajikistan and the World Bank provided a $140 million grant.
Asked whether the issue of write-off of Tajikistan’s debt to Russia will be discussed at the upcoming meeting in St. Petersburg, Rahmon said that that subject would not be discussed. “We have already repaid the main part of the debt and this process will be finished next year,” the president said.
