Entrepreneur’s Day in Tajikistan Date in the current year: October 14, 2024

Historically, the first entrepreneurs in Tajikistan were traders and merchants who came to the area in the late 19th and early 20th century. When Tajikistan became part of the Soviet Union, however, their activities came to an end since Soviet economy was based on state ownership and there were no private businesses.

The situation began to change during Perestroika, which was characterized by economic liberalization. The 1988 Law on Cooperatives permitted collective ownership of businesses in certain sectors. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, many cooperatives were transformed into Western-type privately-owned businesses.

The first step in the development of entrepreneurship in independent Tajikistan was the adoption of the Law on Entrepreneurial Activity in the Republic of Tajikistan in December 1991. In early 1992, there were over 2,500 registered small businesses in the country. Most of them were former cooperatives.

The number of small enterprises in Tajikistan decreased drastically throughout the 1990s due to a tough economic situation caused by the Tajikistani Civil War, which left the country’s economy in disarray. Even after the end of the war, the number of private enterprises in the country increased very insignificantly due to poverty, bureaucratic hurdles, and corrupt officials. By 2000, the number of small businesses had more than halved compared to 1992.

In subsequent years, the number of small and medium-sized enterprises in Tajikistan began to grow, partially thanks to government support (which, sadly, still left much to be desired). By 2018, the share of the private sector amounted to 70% of the country’s GDP. The share of the medium and large businesses in the private sector was about 10%, the share of dekhan farms was 47%, the share of small businesses with a patent was 32%, and the share of small businesses with a certificate was 11%.

Nevertheless, the state of the private sector of Tajikistan’s economy is still unfortunate. Thousands of enterprises are closed annually due to high competition in the market (since most of Tajikistan’s population is poor or low-income, there is no stable demand for most goods and services) and the poor development of the tertiary sector, which the bulk of small and medium-sized businesses belong to in developed economies.

Taking into account the situation with entrepreneurship in Tajikistan, Entrepreneur’s Day was established not only to highlight the contribution of entrepreneurs to the country’s economy, but also to raise awareness of the issues they have to face and to consolidate efforts to find ways to solve them. The holidays is marked by seminars, conferences, business forums, and other networking events for Tajikistani entrepreneurs, where they can exchange experience and establish new business connections.