Tashkent is reportedly expected to provide preferential loan of 100 million USD to support Tajik entrepreneurs doing business with Uzbekistan.
“A government-to-government agreement on providing a preferential loan of 100 million U.S. dollars to Tajikistan is expected to be signed during Uzbek president’s state visit to Tajikistan,” a source in the Tajik government told Asia-Plus in an interview.
This amount will be provided in low interest loans to Tajik entrepreneurs having specific business-plans on expanding cooperation with Uzbek state-run and private enterprises, the source added.
According to data of the State Committee for Statistics, a two-way trade between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan last year valued at US$126 million. This consisted of Tajikistan’s exports to Uzbekistan estimated at US$57 million and Tajikistan’s imports from Uzbekistan worth US$69 million.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, ties between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have often been tense due to disagreements on issues including borders, water, energy resources, and transit routes.
Relations between the countries have become warmer after Shavkat Mirziyoyev came to power in Uzbekistan in 2016. Mirziyoyev has said that improving ties with Central Asian nations is a major priority of Uzbekistan’s foreign policy.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev told lawmakers in the Tashkent region on January 6 that important bilateral agreements would be signed during his visit to Tajikistan. “We will sign many agreements on cooperation in the railway and energy spheres. We will also be considering many other issues,” he said.
