More than 600 representatives of business communities of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as well as senior representatives of relevant ministries and agencies and regional administrators of the two countries participated in a business and investment forum that took place in Dushanbe on April 17, the press center of the Uzbek Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade (MoIIT) said.
Co-chaired by the Tajik Deputy Prime Minister Usmonali Usmonzoda and the Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister Zhamshid Khojayev, the event reportedly discussed issues related to state and further expansion of economic cooperation between the two countries.
The parties outlined sectors like metallurgy, mining, renewable energy resource development, light industry and agriculture as areas, which could drive the bilateral trade between the two countries.
According to data from the MoIIT of Uzbekistan, a two-way trade between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan has increased three times over the past eight years, reaching US$750 million as of December 31, 2023. Since the beginning of this year, the bilateral trade between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan has reportedly increased by 40 percent.
More than 370 joint ventures now operate in the territories of both countries, while in 2017, there were only 17 joint ventures operating in both counties.
Meanwhile, according to data of the Uzbek media outlet Spot, the Tajik-Uzbek Investment Company plans to finance implementation of 14 projects with a total worth of 135 million US dollars.
Spot says Uzbekistan and Tajikistan are implementing joint projects on creating a trade zone at the Oibek-Fotehobod border crossing point (BCP), constructing the trade and logistics center “Andarkhan” and constructing two hydropower plants on the Zarafshon River in northern Tajikistan.
By Uzbek president’s decree, issued in September 2021, the government-to-government agreement between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan on the creation of a joint Tajik-Uzbek Investment Company, which was signed in Dushanbe on June 10, 2021, was approved.
The Tajik-Uzbek Investment Company was reportedly created in the form of an LLC with an initial authorized capital of US$12 million with a phased increase to US$50 million.
The Fund for Reconstruction and Development of Uzbekistan owns 75 percent of the shares and the State Unitary Enterprise (SUE) Tajikinvest at the State Committee on Investment and State-owned Property Management of Tajikistan (GosKomInvest) assumes the 25% ownership interest in the Tajik-Uzbek Investment Company
The Company’s main activities include investing through the acquisition of shares in the authorized capital of existing and newly created economic entities, allocating loans, issuing securities, as well as selling shares of an investment company in the authorized capital of economic entities to Tajik and foreign investors.
In addition, it provides for investment cooperation with international investment and financial institutions, including in Tajikistan, coordination of investment interaction with them, as well as support and assistance in the implementation of joint investment projects.
A separate area of the company's activity will be the search and attraction of foreign and domestic investors to expand the composition of its participants and the allocation of funds to commercial banks of Tajikistan on a commercial basis.
