The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Tajikistan held a roundtable on February 20 to provide preliminary findings of the study on migrants and remittances conducted by the JICA research Institute.
The main objective of the “Remittance Study on Migration and Financial Households in Tajikistan” was to deepen the understanding of the effects of migration and remittances on households in Tajikistan, especially considering the migration cycle, the cost of migration, the skills of migrants and remittances. The study provides some policy recommendations that should lead to a reduction in poverty in the country and overall economic development.
During his opening remarks, the Chief Representative of JICA Tajikistan Office, Mr. Hideki Tanabe, noted that the obtained results would be the base for further researches in the migration sector and the formation of relevant policies. In particular, he urged experts, development partners, and others to utilize outcomes of the study in their work after its’ official publication.
As it is well aware, Tajikistan sends many migrant workers to Russia, to be the first destination, followed by Kazakhstan. Though it has some fluctuations, the amount of the remittance by the migrants accounts almost 40% of GDP of Tajikistan, which leaves the country economically very vulnerable to the external factor.
The roundtable participants included the representatives of the ministries, includes Ministry of Labor, Migration and Employment, Ministry of Education, State Committee on Investment and State-owned Property Management, international organizations and NGOs. There were active discussions and presentations by experts and consultants in the field of remittances, migrations and migration cycle.
This study is a continuation of a previous study conducted in 2013 by the World Bank and GIZ.
JICA began its technical cooperation with Tajikistan in 1993 by inviting Tajik officials to gain knowledge and experience on governance and macroeconomics development. As of January 2018, a total number of participants to JICA’s Knowledge Co-Creation Programs, formerly called the Training Programs, has exceeded 2200 people. JICA Office was established in 2006 in Tajikistan and since then various Grant Financial Assistance and Technical Cooperation projects have been implemented more dynamically, aiming at improving living standard of Tajik people for the sectors such as agriculture and rural development, water supply, health, transport, energy, capacity building as well as SME promotion. JICA’s cumulative investment portfolio in Tajikistan in all sectors comprises 35 projects amounting to more than 349.6 million USD (82 million USD for Technical Cooperation and 267.6 million USD for Grant Assistance), including 11 on-going projects.
