The Government of Tajikistan declared the entrepreneurship support and conducive business environment as one of the priorities of its National Development Strategy for 2016 – 2030. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Tajikistan Office also considers small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as a driving force for boosting Tajik economy. Therefore, in order to contribute to the governmental efforts aimed at private sector development, JICA, jointly with the State Committee on Investments and State Property Management of the Republic of Tajikistan (SCISPM), has recently launched “Business Incubation Project”.
This 2 – year initiative intends to create job opportunities among youth, women, migrants and start-uppers in 8 districts (Asht, Hamadoni, Huroson, Kanibadam, Kulyab, Rasht, Vahdat and Vose) through a sequence of business oriented trainings and mentorship sessions, as well as simplifying relevant governmental administrative procedures. These interventions will be followed-up by a migrant-focused Small Grant Program to mitigate the adverse consequences of COVID pandemic in Tajikistan.
In addition to this, the Project will strengthen institutional and technical capacities of its local counterpart (State Institution “Establishment and Development of Entrepreneurship in Tajikistan” – SIEDDT) to enable the latter to provide more qualitative and effective services for SMEs.
At the official Opening Ceremony of SIEDDT held on 15 September 2020 in Dushanbe, Mr. TANABE Hideki, JICA Tajikistan Chief Representative stated: “Together with the Government of Tajikistan, JICA will continue to look at the new opportunities for synergy of efforts to facilitate creation of more new job places in rural areas and improvement performance of SMEs in the country. We do hope that SIEDDT, being partner of JICA funded Business Incubation Project, will play a crucial role in this process”.
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 2020, a total number of participants to JICA’s Knowledge Co-Creation Programs, formerly called the Training Programs, has exceeded 2300 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 41 projects amounting to more than 401,4 mln USD (83.7 mln USD for Technical Cooperation and 317,7 mln USD for Grant Assistance), including 12 ongoing projects.
For more details about JICA’s cooperation in Tajikistan, please visit our website here https://www.jica.go.jp/tajikistan/english/index.html
