On 22 April 2026, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) organised a workshop in Dushanbe to present the preliminary findings of the project Leveraging AI to Advance Business Potential in Tajikistan: a Private Sector Perspective. The event was held in co-operation with the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan and benefitted from financial support of the European Union (EU).
Links to download the presentations displayed during the workshop can be found below.
Opening remarks
Ms Isabel Uriz Hernandez, Head of Co-operation at the Delegation of the European Union to Tajikistan, opened the event and thanked the OECD for its work. She recalled that negotiations on a new Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (EPCA) are at an advanced stage and will deepen the existing EU-Tajikistan partnership. She expressed hope that the discussions at the workshop would yield actionable recommendations to help the government further improve the business climate and support AI adoption in the private sector.
Mr Aziz Nazar, Deputy Minister of Industry and New Technologies of Tajikistan, expressed his gratitude to the OECD and noted that Tajikistan views artificial intelligence not merely as a set of digital tools, but as an enabler of productivity and innovation across strategic sectors such as mining, energy, construction and food processing. He highlighted the establishment of a Regional AI centre in Dushanbe and Tajikistan’s ambition to position itself as a regional hub for AI solutions. He added that the workshop’s preliminary findings would help identify concrete barriers to AI uptake among SMEs and inform the development of practical measures to support AI innovation in line with OECD standards and best practices.
Mr Hakim Ismoilzod, First Deputy Director of the Agency of Innovation and Digital Technologies under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, described the workshop as a timely and welcomed the opportunity to engage with trusted partners, notably the OECD and the European Union. He underlined Tajikistan’s commitment to working with the OECD on an appropriate framework for AI regulation as the country advances its second action plan under its national AI Strategy. He highlighted recent progress in digitalisation and emphasised the central role of the agency in in fostering an enabling environment for businesses, with the private sector serving as a key driver of economic opportunity. He pointed to the launch of IT Park Dushanbe in April 2025 – now home to more than 70 resident companies, of which 27 working on AI – as a cornerstone of the country’s digital ecosystem and a platform for piloting innovative solutions, alongside initiatives such as “Smart Dushanbe”. He reaffirmed the importance of AI to the national economy, noting that 2025–2030 has been designated as a period for innovation, and expressed confidence that continued co-operation with the OECD, the EU and other partners will support the development of a more competitive, knowledge- and technology-based economic model, including an ambition for AI to account for 5% of GDP by 2040.
Ms Rukhshona Nasriddinzoda, Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade, welcomed the high-level engagement at the workshop and underlined the value of the discussions aimed at shaping a new AI policy architecture that strengthens competitiveness. She stressed that AI is a core instrument of economic policy and that enhanced productive capacity is increasingly decisive in attracting investment. She noted that Tajikistan has made AI a national priority as a means to reduce transaction costs and generating new sources of value added, including through the systematic integration of digital solutions and the country’s programmed of accelerated industrialisation. While acknowledging that challenges remain, she commended the European Union’s contribution to advancing reforms and economic transformation. She expressed the expectation that OECD approaches and standards would further support value creation, underscoring that AI is not only a technological pathway but also a foundation for a new economic model and enhanced productivity.
Introduction: Economic overview of Tajikistan
Ms Céleste Laporte Talamon, Policy Analyst at the OECD, provided an economic overview of the global context and its implications for Tajikistan. She noted that the OECD is presenting preliminary findings on Tajikistan’s business climate, digital connectivity, and AI adoption against a backdrop of a turbulent global economy, where technology-led momentum is offset by energy shocks, inflationary pressures and trade policy uncertainty. Turning to Tajikistan, she noted that growth reached 8.4% in 2024, supported by record-high remittance inflows, yet remains vulnerable to external shocks and import dependence. She highlighted that Tajikistan’s significant antimony endowment position it strategically in critical raw material supply chains, while underscoring that stronger digital infrastructure and skills investments are prerequisites to translating emerging AI innovations into economy-wide productivity gains.
Mr Gazi Shbaikat, IMF Resident Representative in Tajikistan, observed that Tajikistan enters the year from a position of macroeconomic strength, with robust, broad-based growth – supported by mining, construction and agriculture – alongside a strengthened external position underpinned by remittance inflows and comfortable reserve buffers. He underlined solid fiscal performance, improved revenue collection and a marked decline in public debt, reflecting recent reforms to strengthen fiscal transparency, manage risks in state-owned enterprises and enhance financial-sector regulation. Looking ahead, he cautioned that sustaining growth would require further reforms to boost connectivity, innovation, infrastructure and the business climate amid tighter global financial conditions.
OECD preliminary findings
Ms Laporte Talamon presented the preliminary findings of the OECD survey on the business climate. She noted that firms welcomed progress in e- government services for business registration, tax administration and trade facilitation, while also flagging concerns around competition from the informal economy, skills shortages and the high cost of access to finance. Preliminary recommendations include fiscal incentives to encourage business formalisation, employer-informed vocational training, and implementing the movable-collateral registry and insolvency reforms to improve SME access to finance.
Mr Daniel Poloyko, Policy Analyst at the OECD, presented the preliminary findings of the OECD on digital connectivity and AI adoption among SMEs in Tajikistan. Drawing on OECD standards and benchmarking work on digitalisation and AI, he assessed Tajikistan’s performance against international and regional comparators. He noted encouraging recent developments, such as growth in internet use and an emerging AI ecosystem with ambitious goals. However, digital infrastructure remains weak while digital and AI literacy is still limited. AI uptake among SMEs is still in its infancy, largely confined to off‑the‑shelf tools used by a small number of staff, primarily for marketing purposes. Preliminary recommendations include improving the affordability of internet access through shared digital infrastructure models, and designing AI upskilling programmes for workers and managers in selected priority sectors in close consultation with the private sector.
Key observations from the open discussions
Business climate:
- Industrial output is expanding rapidly, supported by major investment projects, although the trade balance remains negative amid import growth.
- Connectivity along trade corridors is a key priority; Tajikistan has made tangible progress in trade facilitation through the introduction of the ASYCUDA and the progressive implementation of the e-CMR electronic consignment note.
- Government policies aim to develop value-added industries (e.g., antimony) and to incentivise domestic processing, including through selected export tariffs.
- The credit market is growing (around 20% annually), with a larger deposit base and lower average lending rates (15–16%), yet access to finance remains insufficient relative to the economy’s needs.
- Developing venture capital was identified as a priority to complement traditional bank lending and broaden the financing options available to innovative firms.
On digitalisation and AI adoption in SMEs, participants discussed that:
- Momentum is emerging in FinTech, GovTech, agriculture, logistics and energy, supported by a young, digitally engaged population and abundant hydropower-based electricity.
- The ecosystem is currently developing across multiple use cases and areas of infrastructure, including AI-powered credit-scoring solutions, AI-enabled government services, a Tajik-language large language model and early green computing initiatives.
- Some AI solutions developed in Tajikistan are already deployed in more than 20 countries, demonstrating export potential and scope for regional replication.
- Key structural constraints remain: uneven connectivity and affordability, limited access to quality data, incomplete digitalisation of business processes, and reliance on external digital infrastructure.
- Identified priorities include investing in digital and AI skills, strengthening foundational enablers (infrastructure, data governance and regulatory frameworks), and supporting business-led implementation through practical guidance and public–private partnerships.