What should be done to promote trade between border communities, how to remove obstacles impeding development of cross-border trade? It is problem of concern not only to the border communities but also to the governments.
Experts consider it necessary to review laws targeting cross-border trade, noting that certain contradictions between laws put serious obstacles in the way of expansion of economic cooperation between the countries. These obstacles reportedly concern movement of commodities, criteria of determining the admissible limits of nontaxable goods, border-crossing requirements, etc. Hence there is need for working out legal documents for each of border marketplace.
Thus, residents of many Tajik and Kyrgyz villages located along the mutual border have commonly used the same roads, water sources and pastures. Until some time ago, Tajiks and Kyrgyz visited the same markets for selling and purchasing goods.
Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have been unable to agree on the location of the border they inherited when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. As the population in the dense Ferghana Valley grows, it has become increasingly difficult to demarcate the contested sections, where valuable agricultural land often lies. Large parts of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border have not been demarcated since the former Soviet republics became independent in 1991.
Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan share a 971 kilometer border–only 530 kilometers of which has been delimited. The disputed sections run between Tajikistan’s Sughd province and Kyrgyzstan’s Batken region, the scene of the border incidents.
In 2015-2016, the governments of both countries and international organizations active in the region took efforts to restore confidence and cooperation. A number of projects aiming at promoting development of cross-border trade have been launched.
Thus, the UNDP-implemented regional project Wider Europe: Aid for Trade for Central Asia” (AFT) in its third phase was designed in line with Finland’s Development Policy program and UNDP’s development vision. It promotes inclusive, green economic growth through promoting trade and enhancing national competitiveness and sustainable development, by helping poor and vulnerable communities to share in the gains from trade.
Aid for Trade (AFT) is a global initiative that strengthens developing countries’ abilities to capture gains from international trade. Much of this agenda is focused on strengthening domestic production and competitiveness, via the creation of enabling business environments and building economic infrastructure. Activities coming under AFT fall into five categories: (1) trade policy and regulation; (2) trade development; (3) economic infrastructure; (4) productive capacity; and (5) adjustment costs, of which the project is focusing on 1, 2, and 4.
The final meeting that took place in the Tajik northern city of Guliston on November 28 this year was preceded by a series of meetings between representatives of Tajik and Kyrgyz border communities and local governments in Isfara, Khistevarz and Lakhsh. Those meetings discussed ways to improve trade in border clusters.
In the course of discussions, representatives of communities from six border districts of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have worked out the plan of successive removal of obstacles and creation of favorable conditions for trade cooperation between residents of the border areas.
Bahrom Murodov, an official with the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Tajikistan, notes that Tajikistan has an experience of systematization of cross-border trade on its common border with Afghanistan. “As much as possible liberal rules but tight control that is the essence of government regulation of cross-border trade which is a form of economic cooperation between neighboring countries and peoples,” Murodov said.
Currently there are four border marketplaces operating along the Tajik-Afghan border.
