DUSHANBE, December 30. /TASS/. The outgoing year offered unique prospects for Russian businessmen to implement investment projects in Tajikistan, Head of the Russian trade mission in the republic Yevgeny Korenkov said in an interview with TASS on Friday.
Russian business has not been particularly active in terms of investing into the Central Asian republic over the past several years, he noted. "However, 2022 is going to turn out to be a breakthrough year since today’s rapidly-changing macroeconomic conditions offer a unique window of opportunity, which any business focused on international cooperation should use," he suggested.
Both nations’ business communities are paying special attention to the development of joint transport and logistic infrastructure now, the envoy noted, adding that PEC, a major multimodal Russian carrier, which focuses on the delivery of consolidated goods by air and by land transport, entered Tajikistan less than a month ago. "This will make goods made by small, more flexible Russian producers more visible on that country’s market, whereas considering the fact that many Tajik importers are also small and mid-sized businesses, we expect mutual interest to mount and the volumes of joint projects to keep growing," he pointed out.
Accelerating the project’s work through the Eurasian Development Bank will also help Russian businesses eager to enter Tajikistan, Korenkov added. Less than a month ago, the bank presented its country strategy, which bolsters the chances of Russian companies, same as of all other participating states, to implement their investment ideas in the republic, he said.
Russia’s accumulated investments into Tajikistan have exceeded $1.6 bln over the past 13 years, including over $900 mln worth of direct investment. The share of Russian investments in Tajikistan’s sum total stands at more than 16%.