At the initiative of the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous region (GBAO) authorities and with the support of the State Committee for Investment and State-owned Property Management (GosKomInvest) of Tajikistan and the GBAO Association of Entrepreneurs, the International Forum "Pomir Invest-2024" was held in GBAO’s capital, Khorog, on July 25-26.

Press release, issued by the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) Office in Tajikistan on June 31, says more than 250 domestic and foreign entrepreneurs and investors, including from the Russian Federation, the People's Republic of China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, representatives of national ministries and committees, diplomatic corps, representatives of development partners and other public entities participated at this Forum.

Opening the forum, GBAO Governor Alisher Mirzonabot noted that “over the last two years, a total amount of more than 2 billion somonis has been invested in the region’s economy, and the interest of entities from various fields in this event is increasing.”

The forum is very important for the development of the region's economy, and one of its objects is reportedly in attracting domestic and foreign investment as well as developing entrepreneurship in the region.

During the forum panel sessions, regional and international experts shared their views on the prospects of regional development and discussed the current issues of the business community, including the subject of state support for entrepreneurs, increasing financial literacy and attracting domestic and foreign capital to the economy of GBAO.

The AKDN Resident Representative in Tajikistan Qozidavlat Qoimdodov also participated and made a speech at the forum.   He, in particular, noted that the AKDN is paying great attention to the investment and development of the private sector in GBAO.  Currently, AKDN agencies are implementing 28 projects in GBAO in various fields, including rural development, education, health, environmental issues, including climate change adaptation, disaster risk mitigation, sustainable infrastructure development, agriculture and poverty alleviation, finance, energy supply and mobile communication.

It was also noted that currently everyone should implement programmers and projects with new methods and ways aimed at promoting the development of industrial entrepreneurship in GBAO.

This is first of all related to the attraction of investment in the development of tourism, mountain tourism and medical tourism using the opportunities and healing waters of the GBAO. In this regard, the experiences of other successful organizations should be used to connect national tourism to regional and world tourism, and AKDN is ready to provide practical assistance in this direction.

Today AKDN and its institutes have established an industrial working group.  The main goals of this group are to study and prepare a new project, i.e. the establishment of future successful and promising enterprises in the region, such as Pamir "Bio Pharma".  The main idea of this favorable initiative is the production and processing of medicinal herbs in GBAO.  It is known to everyone that the region has an ecologically clean nature and has a lot of opportunities for the cultivation of medicinal plants.  In collaboration with government agencies and international organizations, the Government can develop a sustainable and profitable agrarian industrial sector through the cultivation of medicinal plants, creating opportunities for increasing export potential, creating new jobs, improving the economy, preserving clean environment and thus facilitate the improving people's well-being.

During the Forum, more than 50 cooperation agreements were signed with domestic businessmen and entrepreneurs, which will have a positive impact on the stable development of the region in the future.

The Pamir Invest Forum has been held in GBAO since 2011.  The purpose of the Forum is to present investment opportunities, to intensify the process of attracting capital, to strengthen the process of production of import-substitutable products, to increase export capacity, to expand cooperation between entrepreneurs and investors, and present opportunities for the development of modern entrepreneurship and, in general, to contribute to the expansion of the execution of the fourth strategic goal related to industrialization of the country and stabilization of the economic and social indicators of the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region.