DUSHANBE, November 9, 2014, Asia-Plus – On Friday November 7, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon met in Beijing with Mr. Lu Shiyui (phonetically spelled), President of the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), according to the Tajik president’s official website.
The side reportedly discussed a broad range of issues related to bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and the Bank.
The Agricultural Bank of China has reportedly provided a preferential loan of 100 million U.S. dollars to Tajikistan for enhancement of its agrarian sector.
We will recall that the Agricultural bank of China and Tajikistan’s Agroinvestbonk singed the Agricultural Cooperation Agreement in Dushanbe on September 13, 2014. This has unveiled further cooperation between the two countries in commercial banking.
Xinhua reported in September that in order to promote friendly relations as well as economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, ABC will leverage its advantages and work with Agroinvestbonk to set an example of financial cooperation between China and Tajikistan and accelerate the development of the Silk Road Economic Belt. Both sides have agreed to cooperate with each other in the following areas: First, jointly provide financial support for trade and investment between the two countries. Both sides will build an efficient financial service bridge to realize collaboration between domestic and overseas institutions, diversify the products in Tajikistan’s financial market and reduce the financing cost of companies. Second, make concerted efforts to promote the use of RMB in the trade, investment and financing between the two countries. ABC will capitalize on its advantages in network coverage, customer base, RMB (Renminbi – is the formal term most often used by Chinese
officialdom to refer to the currency) liquidity and RMB products to provide complete and convenient cross-border RMB services for Tajikistan, promote cross-border RMB business as a unique service of Tajikistan banks and promote the use of RMB in Central Asia. Third, provide technical support for AIB in credit risk management. ABC will use its experiences and technical advantages in serving agriculture, rural areas and farmers to help AIB refine its agro-related banking products, improve risk management and provide efficient financial support for Tajikistan’s agriculture. Fourth, set up China counter in AIB to promote economic and trade cooperation between China and Tajikistan and support the investment and development of Chinese companies in Tajikistan.
The Agricultural Bank of China Limited (ABC, also known as AgBank) is one of the “Big Four” banks in the People”s Republic of China. It was founded in 1951, and has its headquarters in Dongcheng District, Beijing. It has branches throughout mainland China, Hong Kong, London, Tokyo, New York, Frankfurt, Sydney, Seoul, and Singapore. ABC has 320 million retail customers, 2.7 million corporate clients, and nearly 24,000 branches. It is China”s third largest lender by assets.
