ADB gives US$10 million to Tajikistan for Tourism, first in history

In a recent report titled ‘Asian Economic Integration Report 2019-20’, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said, “tourist arrivals in Asia grew faster than anywhere else in the world,”. The tourism sector in Asian economies is now being seen as a shock absorber for the potential slowdown to be caused by US-China trade war.

In a major boost to the tourism sector in Central Asian nation Tajikistan, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Monday approved US$ 10 million grant for tourism development in the country. The project is reportedly ADB's first assistance for tourism sector in Tajikistan.

"Tajikistan has considerable advantages for developing tourism given its beautiful mountainous landscape, natural assets, and cultural and historical links to the ancient Silk routes and even earlier eras," said ADB Project Administration Unit Head in Tajikistan Mr. Raza Farrukh. "But the country's tourism potential remains untapped. Through this project, we will move the government's efforts on developing the tourism sector to the next level." The project has been envisioned to prepare a comprehensive tourism development plan including market demand analysis and skills mapping as well as strengthening the institutional capacity in the sector.

The total cost of the project is US$11 million, with the Government of Tajikistan providing US$1 million. It is expected to be completed by 2024. The approval came on the heels of a recently released report of ADB - Asian Economic Integration Report 2019-20 - which has highlighted record arrival of tourists and huge potential for tourism development in almost all its 49 member economies. The tourism sector in Asian economies is now being seen as a shock absorber for the potential slowdown to be caused by US-China trade war.

"The project will also help the country to formulate a Tourism Satellite Account, a strategic prerequisite for developing and monitoring the sector that provides information on issues such as tourism share in the country's gross domestic product, national employment, and foreign direct investment," said a press statement issued by the ADB.

Tajikistan's main potential for tourism are its mountains which cover about 90 per cent area of the country. The tourist arrivals in Tajikistan are mainly from neighboring countries like China, Afghanistan, Kirgizstan, Uzbekistan. Besides, developing mountaineering sector attracts tourists from China and Ukraine. According to a government report, the number of tourists from Europe, America, Japan and South Korea is also increasing gradually. In the first six months of 2018 about 900,000 tourists had visited the country which was almost double of 430,000 tourists who had visited in entire 2017. The Tajik people's hospitality, unexplored mountains, closeness to the Silk Route, eco-tourism and political openness have been identified as strengths for tourism sector in Tajikistan while growing terrorism, crime and drug peddling are the emerging challenges.