The European Union (EU) upgrades its long-term assistance program in Tajikistan assisting the national reforms on technical and vocational education, training as well as employment by introducing a new cooperation model, says a press release issued by the EU Delegation to Tajikistan.
In 2023, The EU introduced a new advanced instrument of financing for Tajikistan, which encompasses direct transfers to the government’s treasury of EU grant funds. A first tranche of €4 million was disbursed on January 24, 2024 to help accelerating priority reform actions. Tajikistan and the European Union reportedly agreed on a financial envelop for budget support amounting to €29.8 million, with three more yearly disbursement planned up to 2026. A continued wide scope of capacity building and technical assistance to the Tajik Ministry of Labor, Migration and Employment of the Population, and to the Ministry of Finance will complement the grant transfer.
Under the EU grant budget support program yearly transfers of funds to cooperation partners are always conditional. The so-called general conditionalities include: a) satisfactory progress in the implementation of the National Strategy for Education Development 2030 and the Program for Professional Training of the Citizens 2021- 2025 and continued credibility and relevance of those or any successor strategy; b) maintenance of a credible and relevant stability-oriented macroeconomic policy or progress made towards restoring key balances; c) satisfactory progress in the implementation of reforms to improve public financial management, including domestic revenue mobilization, and continued relevance and credibility of the reform program; and d) satisfactory progress with regard to the public availability of accessible, timely, comprehensive, and sound budgetary information.
The next disbursement of €10 million is planned for the second quarter of 2024 provided there is agreed upon progress in the implementation of the country’s strategies and related to agreed target priority reform actions strictly within defined timelines.
In September 2023, the EU also initiated another capacity-building project on public finance management in Tajikistan, with a total budget of almost €3 million, which builds on the earlier multimillion wide-scope assistance in this field. Additional regional EU financing enables important collaboration at the regional level benefiting Tajikistan, such as capacity building of the Supreme Audit Institution and an upcoming EU co-financing of the regional capacity-building program of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
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