DUSHANBE, December 5, 2012, Asia-Plus  -- Construction of a Tajik-Russian joint venture has begun in the Sughd Free Economic Zone (FEZ) this month.

According to  the Administration of FEZ Sughd, a delegation from Russia’s Republic of Boshkortastan, led by vice-premier of the Boshkortastan government, Ilshat Tadzhidinov, has visited FEZ Sughd recently to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for construction of the joint venture.

It will be the first corporate resident of FEZ Sughd with participation of Russian capital.  The enterprise will produce output from domestic gypsum.  The enterprise plans both to sell its output in Tajikistan and export it to Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan, the source said.

FEZ Sughd is a free economic zone located in Sughd province on the territory of the south-west industrial zone of the city of Khujand.  FEZ Sughd FEZ was created in 2008 by a parliamentary decree on 320 hectares of land for 25 years and began operating in August 2009.

The zone offers customs and tax incentives to qualified investors that invest at least 500,000 US dollars and import at least 90% of the technology and equipment.

The Administration of FEZ Sughd registered the first five corporate residents of the free economic zone in 2010.  To-date, 20 enterprises have been registered with FEZ Sughd and eight of them have already been operating.  The limited liability company, Zarfishon, is expected to launch a new line for production of granulated sugar from domestic sugar beet by the end of this year.

Over the first nine months of this year, enterprises operating on the territory of the Sughd Free Economic Zone (FEZ) have reportedly manufactured a total of more than 13 million somoni (equivalent to more than 2.7 million US dollars) worth of goods.