First meeting of OSCE-supported body on improving investment climate took place in Tajikistan’s Rasht Valley

The first assembly of the Rasht Valley Consultative Council for improvement of investment climate was held on 13 September 2013 in the town of Darband in Nurobad district east of Dushanbe. 

The meeting brought together members of local government, private sector representatives, and civil society actors to discuss the current economic development priorities of the region and how the Council can help pursue them, as well as the charter and the future composition of this body.

The OSCE Office in Tajikistan trained and prepared government officials for the participation in the work of the Council. At the same time, Mercy Corps and German Society for International Co-operation (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit,GIZ), partners in the project implementation, mobilized the representatives of the business community in the region to become active members of the Council.

“The Council will serve as a platform for dialogue between the public and  private sectors, and help build confidence between the government and the residents of the Rasht Valley,” said Torbjorn Bjorvatn, Head of the Economic and Environmental Department at the OSCE Office in Tajikistan.

“In constructive, inclusive discussions, the Council participants will be able to identify impediments to economic development, help devise policies to address them, and effectively advocate local interests with central authorities.”

The Council was established on the basis of the Memorandum of Co-operation which the OSCE Office in Tajikistan and the State Committee on Investments and State Property Management of the Republic of Tajikistan signed in the beginning of the year.