Speech at the Joint Central Asia-Republic of Korea Economic and Trade Forum

The President of Tajikistan said the forum provides a favourable platform for advancing the goals of the first summit of heads of state in the Central Asia-Republic of Korea format. He stressed that cooperation and partnership between Central Asia and the Republic of Korea can secure a sustainable future only through mutual respect and trust.

He said Tajikistan has recorded average annual economic growth of 7.8 percent over the past 20 years and attracted more than USD 5 billion in foreign investment and USD 2.5 billion in domestic capital last year alone. He also referred to more than 100 state investment projects worth over USD 7 billion and more than 240 guarantees and incentives for investors, including over 110 tax and customs preferences.

The speech set out 8 priority areas for future cooperation: green energy, extraction and processing of strategic minerals, agribusiness and agriculture, textiles, transport and regional connectivity, tourism, banking and finance, and artificial intelligence and digitalisation. He also mentioned Tajikistan’s initiatives at the United Nations on AI and the planned regional AI centre in Dushanbe, while inviting Korean businesses and investors to engage in these areas.