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Tajikistan: Improving the International Competitiveness of the Textile & Clothing Sector (Global Textiles & Clothing Programme)

18 August 2021
ITC News

#LearnFromNeighbour: Tajikistan Learns from Uzbekistan's Customs best practices. On early morning of August 12, 2021, a Tajik delegation arrived in Tashkent, the capital of neighbouring Uzbekistan, for an intense one-day study tour.

The group is composed of representatives from six government agencies, two business associations, and two border transport companies. The Tajik officials and business representatives met with their Uzbek counterparts. They visited the country’s customs terminals and other border trade agencies to familiarize themselves with local experience and initiate closer cooperation.

The tour aimed for a learning experience of customs terminals and other border agencies in the Republic of Uzbekistan as well as establishing contacts between Tajik and Uzbek sectoral agencies for further cooperation to improve the services of local terminals.

The initiative was jointly organized by the Tajikistan Ministry of Economic Development and Trade and the International Trade Centre under the Swiss Government-funded Global Textiles and Clothing Programme (GTEX). Ready4Trade Central Asia project funded by the European Union supported coordination between two countries as a regional initiative. Uzbekistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan, State Customs Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan played an important role in ensuring this study tour was possible. Association of Customs Brokers of Tajikistan, and Association of Customs Brokers of Uzbekistan also provided important assistance with necessary arrangements for the tour.

The Tajik delegation visited the customs point "Ark-Bulak" and customs terminal LLC "Highway Logistics Center", located in Tashkent area and got acquainted with infrastructure and functioning of the Center and the customs point.

Firuza Mahmudova, Chairman of the Tajikistan Association of Customs Brokers, commented: "Considering the growing trade relations between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, better awareness of the neighbouring country's customs procedures is crucial for both importing and exporting goods from Tajikistan. In addition, this initiative will uphold the work of national trade associations and government entities. The Tajik business can benefit from the knowledge and adopt best commercial practices to improve the domestic sector's trade capacity".

Furthermore, the Tajik delegation met in a round-table discussion representatives of related Uzbek government agencies, business associations, and private international trade transport and logistic companies in Tashkent. Both sides informed about the infrastructure development forecast aimed at boosting customs administration, transport logistics and transport corridors in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan respectively.

Saidmumin Kamolov, ITC National Programme Manager in Tajikistan, said: "This study tour served as another important step to learn and implement modern trade activities and simplify regulations on regional and international level".

About the GTEX Programme

The International Trade Centre's Global Textiles and Clothing Programme (GTEX) is a four-year programme funded by the Government of Switzerland. The GTEX programme provides support to Textile and Clothing (T&C) companies in Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan) and the Middle East and North Africa (Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia). The programme's goal is to promote T&C exports and to stimulate employment and income generation along the value chain.

About Ready4Trade Central Asia project

The Ready4Trade Central Asia project is a joint initiative of the European Union and the International Trade Centre. Its aim is to contribute to the overall sustainable and inclusive economic development of Central Asia by boosting intra-regional and international trade in the region. Beneficiaries of the Ready4Trade Central Asia project include governments, small and medium-sized enterprises, in particular women-led enterprises, and Business Support Organizations. The project operates in 5 countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
More information: intracen.org/Ready4Trade