In 2020, Tajikistan’s GDP will be 82,543 million somoni, up 4.5% year-on-year, with industrial GDP up 9.7% year-on-year; agricultural GDP up 8.8% year-on-year; and foreign trade of US$4,558 million, up 0.8% year-on-year. in 2020, Tajikistan’s total investment in fixed assets will be 11,617 million somoni, down 4.6% year-on-year ( in local currency terms). According to the Tajikistan Statistical Agency, in 2020, industry accounts for 17.4% of GDP, agriculture for 22.6% and services for 43.4%. According to the industrial structure, the primary sector accounts for 22.6%, the secondary sector for 24.9% and the tertiary sector for 52.5%. 14.1% of GDP will be invested in Tajikistan in 2020 and 17.6% of GDP will be exported. In 2021, Tajikistan’s gross domestic product (GDP) will be 99.7 billion somoni (approximately US$8.75 billion), an increase of 9.2% year-on-year, with a GDP per capita of approximately US$897; foreign trade will amount to US$6.38 billion, an increase of 40% year-on-year, with major trading partners including Russia, Kazakhstan, China, Switzerland, Uzbekistan, Turkey, etc. In the first quarter of 2022, Tajikistan’s gross domestic product (GDP) was 20.2 billion somoni (approximately US$1.6 billion), an increase of 7.5% year-on-year.

According to the Tajikistan Statistics Agency, in 2020, Tajikistan’s foreign trade will total US$4.558 billion, up 0.8% year-on-year. Of this amount, export trade is US$1,406.9 million, up 19.8% year-on-year, while import trade is US$3,150.9 million, down 5.9% year-on-year.In 2020, Tajikistan’s main trading partners were Russia (US$974 million, or 21.4% of total foreign trade), Kazakhstan (US$910 million, or 20%), Switzerland (US$696 million, or 15.3%), China (US$473 million, or 10.4%) and Uzbekistan (US$334 million, or 7.3%).

Tajikistan’s exports have a single product structure, mainly gemstones and semi-precious stones, mineral products, textile materials and products, base metals and their products, etc. Tajikistan’s imports are large and diverse, mainly minerals, machinery and equipment, chemical products, means of transport, base metals and their products, food crops, foodstuffs, etc.

In 2020, Tajikistan’s import trade totals $315.09 million, an increase of 5.9% compared to 2019. The main countries of origin of imports are Russia (29.6% of total imports), Kazakhstan (24%), China (13.9%), Uzbekistan (7.9%), Turkey (3.8%), Germany (2.9%), Belarus and South Korea (1.7%), Japan and Iran (1.5%), India (1.3%) ), USA (1.2%), Kyrgyzstan (0.9%), Ukraine and Afghanistan (0.8%)

Tajikistan pursues an “open door” and balanced foreign policy, actively developing relations with Central Asian countries, Russia, the United States, the European Union, Iran, Saudi Arabia and other Islamic countries. At the same time, Tajikistan is developing friendly and cooperative relations with other countries around the world and is actively seeking foreign aid to safeguard its independence, sovereignty, security and development. The country has joined more than 30 international and regional organisations, including the United Nations, the OSCE, the CIS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Economic Cooperation Organization, the Eurasian Economic Community and the Organization of the Islamic Conference, and joined the NATO Partnership for Peace on 20 February 2002. It is actively involved in international counter-terrorism and anti-drug efforts, and has advocated the holding of conferences and meetings on the “Water for Life” Decade 2005-2015 within the framework of the United Nations, with the support of more than 140 countries. By the end of 2011, Tajikistan had established diplomatic relations with 124 countries and had 26 embassies, consulates and permanent representative offices abroad.

In terms of tourism, the Tajik National Park is located in the middle of the Pamir Plateau, the highest mountain range in Eurasia, and covers an area of over 2.5 million hectares in eastern Tajikistan. It was declared a World Natural Heritage Site in 2103. The Tajik National Park, with its high plateau to the east and varying peaks to the west (some of which exceed 7,000 metres), is characterised by extreme seasonal fluctuations in temperature. The longest alpine glacier outside the polar regions is situated among the 1,085 glaciers recorded at the site, which is also home to 170 rivers and over 400 lakes. The park is rich in vegetation species of the southwest and central Asian flora and provides a refuge for scarce and threatened bird and mammal species nationwide, including the Marco Polo pan sheep, snow leopard and Siberian wild goat. Affected by frequent strong earthquakes, Tajik National Park is virtually untouched by agricultural culture and permanent human settlement, providing a unique opportunity for the study of plate tectonics and subduction phenomena.

The Wakhan Valley is located on the border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan and is shared with Afghanistan. The views of the valley are exceptionally spectacular and, if you are lucky, you can see the Hindu Kush mountains on the Pakistani border. But when preparing your permit for the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, remember to mention that you are going to the Wakhan Valley. It is also a strategic point on the China/Afghanistan/Tajikistan border. From or Rog, the road follows the Afghani-Tajik border all the way through Wakhan and finally enters from Tashan, China. The road is very bleak and almost devoid of trees. Along the river, on the other side of which is Afghanistan. The border river is not very wide it should not be too difficult, except that the river bank on the opposite side is likely to be mined.

Salazim, which means ‘the place where the earth began’, is an archaeological site in Tajikistan that proves the emergence of a sedentary population in Central Asia as early as 4000 to 3000 BC. Various remains indicate the rapid development of initial urbanization in the region, which occurred very early on. As one of the settlement centers of ancient Central Asia, its geographical location facilitated its development, with gently sloping mountains suitable for nomadic pastoralism on one side and vast valleys on the other, providing the first settlers of the region with the advantage of developing agriculture and, in particular, irrigation. The ancient city of Salazim is also a testimony to the trade and cultural exchanges between the steppes of Central Asia and the regions of Turkmenistan, the Iranian plateau, the Indus Valley and the Indian Ocean.

By Irving