AmCham Tajikistan held a business meeting with the newly appointed Director of the State Unitary Enterprise "Tajinvest" Khurshed Mirzo.

On May 7, 2019, the Trade Council of America in Tajikistan (AmCham Tajikistan) held a business meeting with the newly appointed Director of the State Unitary Enterprise “Tajinvest”, Khurshed Mirzo. The meeting, which was attended by more than 20 members of AmCham, was held at the Serena Hotel.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Trade Council of America in Tajikistan - General Director of Somon Air Airlines, Thomas Hallam, in his speech, briefly spoke about the priorities of AmCham in Tajikistan. He noted the work of the internal committees of the Tax and Tourism Associations, and thanked the members of the committees for their active work. In addition, Th. Hallam spoke about his meeting with the head of the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington.

Kh. Mirzo told AmCham members about the activities and objectives of the State Unitary Enterprise "Tajinvest", studying and analyzing investment projects and business plans; assistance in attracting investments; assistance in finding business projects and business partners; organizing the visits of foreign delegations to the Republic of Tajikistan, etc.

According to the Director of the State Unitary Enterprise "Tajinvest", in 2018 GDP growth was observed at 7.3%, large infrastructure projects were implemented, household incomes increased by 11%, and the poverty level dropped to 29.5%; also in November 2018, was launched the first unit of the Roghun hydropower plant.

He noted that reforms should be accelerated to improve the business environment in Tajikistan. Thus, according to the Running a Business 2019 report, Tajikistan deteriorated its rating and dropped from 123rd to 126th place.

In March of the current year, the Government of Tajikistan adopted the “300 Days of Reforms to Support Entrepreneurship and Improving Investment Climate” program, which is aimed at improving the regulation of entrepreneurship, increasing the potential of entrepreneurs and supporting producers and exporters, also improving public-private dialogue and attracting investment. For accomplishing these tasks, it was decided to create an online business portal. The goal of the B2B project is to create a national information portal with the aim of initiating a business, stimulating exports, and promoting investments.

At the end of speeches, the issues of currency and excise conversion, tax legislation, issues on the preparation of investment projects and tenders were discussed. It was noted that many private sector companies are ready to invest and create a specific product in Tajikistan. However, by virtue of the existing legal acts, new and modern approaches should be developed in order to improve the situation at a certain stage on the problems raised.

At the end of the meeting, it was noted about Tajinvest and AmCham intentions for closely cooperation in attracting direct investment in Tajikistan.