On 15 November 2022, the OECD, in co-operation with the Ministry of Finance and the Agency for the Development of the Securities Market and the Specialised Registrar of the Republic of Tajikistan, held a webinar on capital market development in Tajikistan. The event was organised as part of the OECD Policy Component of the EU Central Asia Invest initiative and brought together the OECD, the European Union, and representatives of the public and private sectors in Tajikistan.
Opening the webinar, Mr Yusuf Majidi, Deputy Minister of Finance of the Republic of Tajikistan, expressed his gratitude for the co-operation with the OECD and for the prompt response of the organisation on conducting the webinar. Mr Majidi highlighted that the Ministry of Finance created the Agency for Securities Market Development and Specialised Registration, which is working on developing a capital market in the country. He also noted that the “draft regulation and securities circulation statement” is currently pending. Finally, he explained that all measures taken would help the private sector diversify sources of financing.
Ms Nigina Abdurahmonzoda, Director of the Agency for the Development of the Securities Market and the Specialised Registrar of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Tajikistan, stressed the importance of implementation of the reforms in a timely manner. She also mentioned initiatives to develop alternative sources of financing, such as crowd funding and Islamic financial instruments.
Ms Tugba Mulazimoglu, Policy Analyst in the OECD Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs, presented relevant best practices in the development of capital markets from OECD and Partner countries. She provided (i) an overview of the global trends in capital market development, (ii) key policy issues in capital markets, and (iii) the G20/OECD principles of Corporate Governance.
During the Q&A session, Mr Grégory Lecomte of the OECD Eurasia Division asked the expert to provide her opinion on initial steps for capital market development in Tajikistan. Ms. Mulazimoglu noted that (i) listing state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and banks, as well as (ii) developing the corporate bonds market could be useful endeavours to start with.
Concluding the webinar, Ms Karine Olislagers, Programme Manager at the European Union Delegation to the Republic of Tajikistan, reminded participants that the government had recently launched a national strategy to boost financial inclusion. Within this framework, developing a sound capital market could serve to provide better conditions for SME financing. She also thanked the OECD for the webinar, as an opportunity for Tajikistan to learn from peer best practices in capital market development.