In a report released at a news conference in Dushanbe, the Minister of Industry and New Technologies, Sherali Kabir, relieved on August 1 that Tajikistan will begin manufacturing drones (unmanned aerial vehicles — UAVs) for civilian purposes.
"The technology for producing drones is simple, and their components are created by domestic companies," he noted.
According to the minister, the drones to be produced will be used in fields such as geology, geodesy, agriculture, topography, transportation, and the prevention and mitigation of natural and man-made disasters.
In June of this year, the Tajikistan government approved the Concept for the Development of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for the period until 2044, which includes the development of domestic military drones and the training of specialists for their operation.
"Every independent state is obliged to create such devices to strengthen its defense capabilities," said Kabir. "And we will develop this sector."
The minister further noted that the production of drones, like the production of electric vehicles, falls within the field of mechanical engineering.
“Tajikistan, in cooperation with Chinese companies, plans to establish its own production of electric vehicles. We have all the resources for this—huge energy potential and lithium," Kabir noted.
He mentioned that a mining and processing plant based on the lithium deposit in the Ishkashim district of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) would begin operations soon.
Last year, Avesta Group LLC and China’s Jinchuan Group Co., Ltd. signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in establishing an enterprise for the production of electric vehicles in Tajikistan with a capacity of 1,500 cars per year.
Over the first six months of this year, the country’s machinery, defense, and chemical industries have reportedly produced goods worth approximately 2 billion somonis, which is 300 million somonis more than the same period in 2023. Production growth in these sectors was 18.2%.
It is to be noted that the first Tajik-made drones were demonstrated on the sidelines of a two-day international conference on remote monitoring and technologies of use of UAVs, which kicked off in Dushanbe on May 23, 2019 and continued at the airfield in the Jomi district of the Khatlon province on May 24, 2019.
Two types of drones produced by the Tajik-Chinese Joint Research Center for Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles — the electric-powered drone and the gasoline-powered drone – were tested at the airfield in the Jomi district.
The drones were reportedly operated by Tajik specialists who had taken training courses in China.
According to some sources, the technological park of the National Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan now has several drones.
