MCDF Conducts Country Consultations with Tajikistan

At the invitation of the Tajikistan Finance Ministry, Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance (MCDF) Secretariat CEO Zhongjing Wang and staff conducted country consultations with Government of Tajikistan officials during a visit to Dushanbe on 14-15 September. The focus was on deepening MCDF’s understanding of the Central Asian country’s development challenges and identifying opportunities to enhance MCDF support for high-quality connectivity infrastructure investment.

The MCDF delegation met with senior officials from Tajikistan’s Finance Ministry and Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, and joined a roundtable discussion organized by the Finance Ministry and chaired by Mr. Hikmatullozoda Negmatullo, Assistant to Tajikistan’s President on Economic Issues. Roundtable participants included First Deputy Ministers of the Finance Ministry, Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, and Ministry of Justice; First Deputy Chairmen of the State Committee on Investments and State Property Management and the Tourism Development Committee; Deputy Ministers of the Culture Ministry, Health Ministry, and Transport Ministry; the Deputy Chairman of the National Bank of Tajikistan; and department heads of the Agriculture Ministry, Ministry of Labor, Migration, and Employment, and Civil Aviation Agency. Other participants included representatives of the Asian Development Bank, Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Islamic Development Bank, World Bank, and Japan International Cooperation Agency. The MCDF delegation also met the Tajikistan Export Agency Deputy Director.

At the roundtable discussion, Mr. Hikmatullozoda Negmatullo elaborated Tajikistan’s strategic priorities and asked how to leverage MCDF’s support for its donors. Other ministry and agency officials and development partners articulated their interest in deeper Tajikistan-MCDF engagement in sectors such as digital development and digital health. CEO Wang and MCDF staff shared their opinions and provided guidance. Following the roundtable, the idea of holding an MCDF workshop to help improve the country’s capacity in green finance was also discussed.

In a bilateral meeting, First Deputy Finance Minister Mr. Yusuf Majidi welcomed CEO Wang and his team and emphasized the importance of connectivity infrastructure development in the energy, transport, digital, and transboundary water resource management sectors for realizing Tajikistan’s growth potential while noting the country’s interest in adopting an array of financing instruments and approaches. Mr. Majidi highlighted Tajikistan’s Rogun Hydropower Project which is supported by 12 International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and exemplifies its readiness for greater engagement with MCDF and its IFI partners to promote high-quality connectivity through coordination and collaboration.

CEO Wang thanked Tajikistan for its intention to become an MCDF donor and affirmed the strong alignment between the country’s development vision and MCDF’s new 2027-2031 strategy. He went on to describe how MCDF can help address Tajikistan’s connectivity needs through possible support for project preparation, capacity building, and information sharing to facilitate the application of IFI standards needed to ensure project sustainability and meet IFI financing requirements.

In discussions with MCDF at the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, officials explained that Tajikistan’s National Development Strategy 2030 aims to lower the country’s poverty level to below 10% and its Public Investment Program has 864 projects in its pipeline totaling USD16 billion, but only 20% of these projects have secured financing. They expressed their high expectations for Tajikistan’s collaboration with MCDF as a mechanism for advancing its development strategy.

“MCDF is grateful to Tajikistan for its warm hospitality and valuable insights into its connectivity infrastructure priorities and how MCDF can provide more robust and impactful support,” said CEO Wang upon the visit’s conclusion. “This country consultation has further provided MCDF with a blueprint for more effectively engaging partners as we prepare to implement our 2027-2031 strategy which we hope will take connectivity growth to a new level in developing countries worldwide,” he added.