Monday, May 14, 2012 -
The World Bank agreed Friday to extend a $10 million grant to Tajikistan’s entrepreneurs and residents of communities in mining areas.
The funding is aimed at sharpening the competitiveness of the private sector within mining in tandem with encouraging development of the industry itself.
“In the mining sector the project aims to create a more favorable legal and regulatory framework, to encourage new investments in mining, create jobs and new opportunities for local communities,” the World Bank said in a statement.
“This operation will make it easier for entrepreneurs to start a new business,” the report quoted Marsha Olive, World Bank country manager for Tajikistan, as saying.
Under the project, entrepreneurs will be able to register their businesses more easily through online one-stop-shops and obtain construction permits faster via a single window for processing applications. They will also have access to financing at lower costs owing to improved financial intermediation and payment mechanisms.
The report noted that this is the first ever private sector investment operation in Tajikistan to be supported by the World Bank’s funding unit International Development Agency.
“The government of Tajikistan believes the private sector must spearhead a new growth model for the country and the World Bank fully supports this vision,” said Olive.
The World Bank has backed 14 projects with handouts totaling $225 million in the former Soviet Central Asian republic to date.