An international investment forum, dubbed Pamir Invest 2022, took place in Khorog, the capital of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO), on August 17.
The State Committee on Investment and State-owned Property Management (GosKomInvest) says senior representatives of relevant ministries and agencies of Tajikistan, investors from Russia, China, Turkey and Kazakhstan as well as entrepreneurs from various regions of the country participated in the forum.
In a statement delivered at the forum, GBAO Governor Alisher Mirzonabot drew attention of the forum participants to the opportunities of investment in the region’s economy.
GosKomInvest Chairman Saadi Sanginmurodzoda told the forum participants about measures taken by the government to attract investments in GBAO’s economy, create favorable conditions for entrepreneurs and investors, and outlined priorities of cooperation.
The forum reportedly featured three panels: Attraction of Domestic and Foreign Investments in GBAO’s Economy; Development of GBAO’s Industrial and Energy Sectors; and Business Development Opportunities in the Tourism Sector and Attraction of Investments in Tourism Infrastructure.
GosKomInvest says a number of B2B meeting were held on the sidelines of the Forum, but no specific agreements were announced.
According to data from GosKomInvest, US$3.7 million of foreign direct investments were attracted in GBAO’s economy in 2021, which only 1.1 percent of the overall volume of such capital investment in the country.
In 2008-2021, the flow of foreign investment in the economy of this autonomous region amounted to US$103,7 million, which is equal to 1% of the total volume of foreign capital attracted in the country’s economy over these years.
Meanwhile, the transport communication between GBAO and other parts of Tajikistan, which plays a key role in attraction of investments, has worsened significantly over the past decade.
The highway connecting Dushanbe and GBAO’s capital, Khorog, remains in a dilapidated state in the territory of the region. Rehabilitation of the highway in the territory of GBAO has been postponed since 2015.
Recall, the Pamir Invest Forum has been held in GBAO since 2011. The purpose of the Forum is to present investment opportunities, to intensify the process of attracting capital, to strengthen the process of production of import-substitutable products, to increase export capacity, to expand cooperation between entrepreneurs and investors, and present opportunities for the development of modern entrepreneurship and, in general, to contribute to the expansion of the execution of the fourth strategic goal related to industrialization of the country and stabilization of the economic and social indicators of the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region.
