DUSHANBE, March 28, 2011, Asia-Plus — Prince Rahim Aga Khan, eldest son of His Highness the Aga Khan, founder and Chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), arrived in Dushanbe on March 27.
According to the AKDN Tajikistan, during the four-day visit Prince Rahim Aga Khan will review AKDN programs, including microfinance projects. He is expected to travel to Sughd and Khatlon provinces and Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) to meet with beneficiaries. He will also meet with government officials.
Prince Rahim arrived in Dushanbe from the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, where he attended an official inauguration of the new Head Office of the Kyrgyz Investment and Credit Bank (KICB) on March 23. AKDN is one of organizations that helped establish this bank, which was established in 2001 with the share capital of US$ 7 million. The Bank’s shareholders are the Government of Kyrgyzstan, the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED), Habib Bank Limited (HBL), Deutsche Investitions und Entwicklungsgesellschaft GmbH (DEG), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and International Finance Corporation (IFC). KfW is a co-founder of the bank and also provides access to long-term financial resources.
Prince Rahim serves as a director on the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) and has specific responsibility for microfinance activities of the AKDN globally.
Founded and guided by His Highness the Aga Khan, the 49th hereditary Imam (Spiritual Leader) of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) is a group of development agencies with mandates that include the environment, health, education, architecture, culture, microfinance, rural development, disaster reduction, the promotion of private-sector enterprise and the revitalization of historic cities. AKDN agencies conduct their programs without regard to faith, origin or gender.
In Tajikistan, the AKDN activities include the Mountain Societies Development Program (MSDSP), which currently implements rural development projects in various regions of the country. Economic development projects include a hydroelectric plant (Pamir 1) that supplies Gorno Badakhshan with electricity; a mobile phone provider that cover 90 percent of the country; and a hotel being built in Dushanbe. The largest project underway is the creation of a campus of the University of Central Asia, in Khorog, which will have a broad socioeconomic impact on the entire region and beyond.
