Only one Japanese company has expressed interest in participating in rehabilitation of the Qizilqala-Bokhtar section of the highway connecting Dushanbe and Bokhtar, the capital of the Khatlon province.  

A ceremony of opening of envelopes of companies willing to participate in a tender for rehabilitation of the Qizilqala-Bokhtar section of the Dushanbe-Bokhtar highway took place in Tokyo on March 16, according to the Ministry of Transport (MoT). 

A source at a MoT says the Frist Deputy Minister of Tajikistan, Rahim Bobozoda, attended the ceremony that took place through video-conferencing and appreciated Japan’s support for implementation of the transport infrastructure development projects in Tajikistan.  

According to him, only one Japanese company, namely Dai Nippon Construction participated in the tender and its bids on the project will be studied until March 23.  

Recall, Tajikistan’s lower house (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament voted for ratification of an agreement on providing a grant aid for the project aimed at rehabilitation the Qizilqala-Bokhtar section of the Dushanbe-Bokhtar highway on December 18, 2019.      

The Government of Japan has reportedly allocated 3,232,000,000 Japanese Yen, in addition to 117, 000,000 Japanese Yen for detailed design, through JICA to support the implementation of the project

Under this project, the transportation and traffic safety in part of the Dushanbe-Bokhtar highway will be improved through the rehabilitation of the Qizilqala-Bokhtar section of the highway, thereby contributing to the economic development of Tajikistan.

One of the development priorities of Tajikistan is the improvement of road infrastructure that is crucial for the country to overcome communication deadlock and turn itself into a transit hub.  To support the efforts of the Government of Tajikistan, the Government of Japan has been funding several projects through JICA in the transport sector.