Interview with key development minister

As Deputy Prime Minister responsible for humanitarian and development affairs, Zokir Vazirov is one of the key members of the government of Tajikistan. He was the education minister in former Soviet Tajikistan and held the same position after independence in 1992. With a PhD degree in the history of social philosophy, he has in-depth understanding of the multifaceted challenges his impoverished mountainous nation faces today. In an interview with IRIN, Vazirov said Tajikistan needed increased international assistance for local governments and agriculture. He said that such help was also required in fighting drug smuggling because Tajikistan is a front line state in the war on drugs. The Central Asian country is one of the major transit routes for opium produced in neighbouring Afghanistan. Vazirov also said that the Iraq crisis adversely affected the fragile Tajik economy because of fluctuations in global oil markets. QUESTION: How much international assistance are you currently receiving and is it sufficient for your needs? ANSWER: In May, we had a major donors conference and they promised US $900 million in aid, grants and credit over a period of three years. Out of this amount, $400 million is humanitarian assistance in grants; $200 million is meant for food procurement and the remaining $300 million for long-term credit. Foreign investment in the country also has generally improved. The major challenge that we face today is insufficient financing for our government. The policy of our government is that the assistance that we receive should go into development of ndustry, agricultural and others sectors in our country. At present we have some successful steps, the gross domestic product (GDP) has grown 10 percent over the past six months. We do not now take on debts for paying salaries and pensions. While a major part of humanitarian assistance goes towards addressing issues such as food security, healthcare, micro credit, gender and women issues, the assistance to communities and their local government bodies [the Mahallas] and many other sectors such as farmers remains insufficient. Q: How are you contributing to ongoing international reconstruction efforts in neighbouring Afghanistan? A: We were among the first nations allowing our territory to be used for humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. We are now building eight bridges on the Pyandzh river [forming the border between the two countries] to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. We have recently started to supply electricity to parts of northern Afghanistan. Q: What are the ramifications for Tajikistan since international attention shifted from neighbouring Afghanistan to Iraq? A: Surely we suffered from the crisis in Iraq because most of the humanitarian aid is being directed to Iraq. In economic terms the crisis did not affected us directly, but the fluctuations in global oil markets had repercussions for our economy as well. Q: What are your plans to eventually move towards self-reliance from the current trend of relying heavily on international humanitarian and development assistance? A: We recently adopted a three-year strategy for reducing poverty. This programme has the support of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The major thrust of this programme is to generate increased employment and achieve technical development. We are planning to increase the GDP up to 50 percent in three years. So the budget for 2004 is prepared in the light of this programme. In future, this will result in reduction of humanitarian assistance needs. I can give you examples which prove that by effectively using our economic potential we can reduce poverty. Aluminium and cotton are the main resources, which will form our budget revenues in future. Almost 30 percent of cotton and aluminium products will now be manufactured in Tajikistan. This might eventually translate into decreasing the need for humanitarian assistance by 40 percent. This year we are expecting to produce 610,000 mt of cotton and 3,200 mt of aluminium. Q: Despite the official indications of growth in economy, Tajikistan has the highest poverty levels among the former Soviet Republics. Why is economic growth not translating into poverty reduction? A: You need to go back to history to explore the roots of poverty. This was the poorest state of the former Soviet Union, so we inherited poverty. It also increased because of the five-year-long civil war between 1992 and 1997. The damages from the civil war are estimated to be $7 billion. Our President Emomali Rahmonov, has said that improving the living standards of the people lies at the heart of the government's policies. Some 42 percent of the $220 million annual budget is spent on social services. Our government thinks that economy should improve the living standards of the people. But we need a lot of international assistance to address the issue of poverty. We have a lot of water resources and this can be utilised to generate hydroelectricity, which can be exported to countries in the region - thus generating resources, which are the key assets for our future. Q: The World Bank has approved $20 million for improving education in your country. Is this project sufficient or do you need more international assistance to improve education standards? A: In fact, this aid is not sufficient because during Soviet times I was the education minister here and I know the system very well. Out of this $7 million is grant and $13 million is a loan. These finances will cover special needs such as the schools in need of urgent assistance. This amount is insufficient for a lot of schools in the remote mountain valleys. The Kuwait Fund, the Islamic Bank and the Asian Development Bank are the major donors of education sector. In our state budget we will be spending about $30 million on education, but we will continue to attract more funding for education as more resources are needed. Q: How do you feel about the opinion that Tajikistan has not recovered from the disintegration of the former Soviet Union, because being part of that system it was heavily assisted? A: I do not agree with such impression. Let me give you an example: in 1990, Tajikistan produced 900,000 mt of cotton that has a market value of $600 million. We also produced 420,000 mt of aluminium and they also had an almost similar market value and our budget was one billion, 200 million Soviet rubles, which were equal to the same amount of dollars. This proves that we were not entirely dependent on Moscow. The real point is that a lot of the industries we had in Soviet times are not working, now we need international investment to rehabilitate these. Q: Over the past few years Tajikistan has emerged as the major northern exit route for the drugs produced in neighbouring Afghanistan. Despite considerable international assistance and huge interdiction seizures, why is this threat not abating? A: In fact we are a kind of hostage to the drug smuggling because we do not produce any. Following the US-led military strikes in Afghanistan in 2001 the production and smuggling increased two-fold. They were supposed to stop the problem. The drug trade now has an estimated volume of $1.5 billion. We need to address the problem at its roots. Unless the drug production in Afghanistan stops we will continue to have this drug flow through our territory. The main task of the international community is to help the Afghan farmers so they do not plant any more opium poppy. We need to have international support in strengthening our border control because we are protecting Europe from this menace. Q: With 93 percent of the Tajik territory mountains, your country is prone to, and has had major natural disasters such as flash floods, landslides and earthquakes. Are you working on a long-term strategy to prevent and mitigate the effects of such disasters? A: Yes we have got a plan. We want to move the most vulnerable people from the most dangerous areas. We moved some people from the mountainous Roshtkala in the east to Beshkent in the south to protect them from recurring natural disasters. Unfortunately, we cannot do everything at once, it's a slow process. The government has now formed a commission for the emergencies under the leadership of the president. Our budget has money available for dealing with such emergencies. In 1999, we formed the ministry of emergencies and now they lead our efforts in dealing with the emergencies. The ministry of environmental protection also contributes to such efforts. But again we need international assistance to improve and materialise all our plans. Q: Despite challenges, how optimistic are you about the future of Tajikistan? A: Based on what we discussed earlier, I can see light at the end of the tunnel. The great Greek philosopher, Socrates, once said: "You need not teach people how to eat fish, you need to teach them how to catch fish". With our international partners we are going towards rehabilitation and development. I am sure in three to five years time you will see a lot of positive changes in Tajikistan.