Country: Tajikistan
Themes: Strengthening the Business Enabling Environment, Promoting technology adoption to raise productivity, Expanding Access to Competitive Contestable Markets
Cross Cutting Themes: Gender, Digital
Anticipated Impact Areas: Quality Jobs, Private Investment
The Challenge
Favorable external conditions have driven Tajikistan¡¯s economic growth and poverty reduction. However, GDP per capita remains low, job creation is weak, and productivity improvements are minimal. Growth prospects are at risk due to structural weaknesses, and the private sector lacks dynamism, with new formal firms entering well below the regional average.
Mission
The C-JET Grant aimed to improve livelihoods in Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO) and Khatlon through tourism and agribusiness. It supported the private sector¡¯s growth by financing technical studies to advance existing World Bank¡¯s Private Sector Development (PSD) projects and inform new lending operations. The ongoing Rural Economic Development Program (REDP) seeks to enhance livelihoods through entrepreneurship in tourism and agribusiness, while the Finance and Private Sector Development Project (FPSDP) aims to integrate MSMEs into global value chains. A new project, T-SEED, is being developed to remove systemic barriers in the private sector, encourage firm entry, improve access to early-stage finance, and support start-ups with both financial and non-financial instruments.
Implementation activities during this period were shaped by stakeholder engagement and analytical work. C-JET resources supported REDP, FPSDP, and T-SEED preparation.
Key analytical work included:
An Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Assessment is pending. A Start-Up Survey identified 50 MSMEs for interviews, with the assessment to be finalized in FY25 to inform T-SEED preparation.
