One of the main priorities of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan in economic development is support to exporters.
Sustainable export support allows attracting additional volumes of foreign currency necessary to cover import costs to the national economy, maintaining the balance of trade, reducing the debt burden on the economy, thus creating new job opportunities.
Tajikistan’s state policy in the areas of trade and services is currently being carried out in three areas – export promotion, diversification of export-oriented production and simplification of trade procedures.
Today, Tajikistan exports domestic products to more than 40 countries. In order to expand the country's export potential, Tajikistan Trade Portal was developed, which is a favorable platform for Tajik exporters, as it is as accessible as possible, and it contains all the information about the interaction process, the necessary steps and documents for exporting goods.
Tajikistan Trade Portal has become the first resource in Central Asia to collect all the information about the country's trading system and foreign trade activities. It provides domestic entrepreneurs with information on export, import and transit procedures for 53 groups of goods, which are equivalent to more than 1,500 names of goods and products.
The procedures on the online platform of the Tajikistan Trade Portal are presented in a step-by-step format from the perspective of entrepreneurs for easier use. It displays in a user-friendly form all documents and forms (licenses, permits, certificates, etc.) that exporters must submit and/or collect from each regulatory body operating on the border, and provides detailed information on fees and charges that Traders shall pay.
For example, an entrepreneur who is interested in exporting cement, whose production is increasing from year to year, selects "Export", then "Cement". The system displays the permission that the exporter must obtain to complete the procedure. The exporter can see the full picture of all the procedures, that is, all the steps to complete the export of the desired product.
In 2015, 1,409.5 thousand tons were produced, and in 2019, 4202.1 thousand tons of cement. At present, domestic cement producers supply not only the domestic market, but also the markets of near and far abroad countries. In this regard, the cement exporter can find potential markets for export using the “Trade Partners” section, which contains export and import data of near and far abroad countries.
Thus, the Trade Portal reduces the time and costs spent by domestic entrepreneurs on obtaining and analyzing information on trade relations, and minimizes the risk of delayed transportation of goods at the border due to non-compliance with export requirements. It will help policy makers to identify all unnecessary administrative barriers.
Currently 52 enterprises from Tajikistan, exporting their products, the list of which is about 500 items, are features in the section “Manufacturers”.
The information is constantly updated by the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of the Republic of Tajikistan with the active participation of each industry department, for example, the Customs Service and others.
Tajikistan Trade Portal was developed by the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of the Republic of Tajikistan with financial support from the Government of Switzerland and other development partners, in particular the International Trade Center (ITC). It was created as part of the State Program for Domestic Products Export Promotion for 2016-2020 and the Program of Adjustment of the economy of the Republic of Tajikistan related to the membership in the World Trade Organization.
Until now, some of the joint programs with the World Trade Organization have been almost implemented for 100%, and another part of the programs on diversification of domestic products for export and increase its potential are under implementation.
As a result of the implemented goals of these programs, today the export of domestic products to foreign countries increased from 18.9% in 2013 to 27.4% in 2019.
The Government of the Republic of Tajikistan continues to promote domestic products, directing all resources to increase the country's export potential.
To ensure these goals, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade is constantly improving Tajikistan Trade Portal for access to information on the list of export products and manufacturing enterprises.
