On August 26, 2025, in order to fulfill the instructions of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, the Leader of the Nation, Emomali Rahmon, aimed at reducing the impact of potential risks on the national economy, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade chaired by the First Deputy Minister Solehzoda A. A. held a regular meeting of the Interdepartmental Headquarters for Coordinating the Implementation of Macroeconomic Policy and Preventing the Impact of Potential Risks on the National Economy on the topic: "Determining Ways to Increase the Volume of Production and Processing of Cotton Fiber in the Republic of Tajikistan".
At the beginning of the meeting, Solehzoda A. A. emphasized that cotton growing and processing of cotton to final products within the country are one of the priority strategic areas of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan.
At the same time, the analysis shows a decrease in the volume of cotton production in agricultural enterprises and its processing at domestic enterprises in recent years.
In particular, over the past three years, cotton production volumes have gradually decreased from 404.7 thousand tons in 2022 to 253.2 thousand tons in 2024.
During the same period, cotton fiber production volumes decreased from 127.1 thousand tons to 106.9 thousand tons.
Cotton fiber exports, which are seasonal, in 2024 amounted to 100.5 thousand tons worth 170.1 million US dollars, which is 8.8 thousand tons or 28.5 million dollars less than in 2023.
The average selling price of cotton fiber was 1,692 US dollars per ton, which is 125 dollars lower than the average export price in 2023.
The geography of cotton fiber exports in 2024 by volume was distributed as follows: Iran - 67.9%, Turkey - 15%, China - 8.4%, Russia - 4.4%, Pakistan - 3%, Georgia - 1%, Bangladesh - 0.2%, Latvia - 0.1%.
It was noted that a number of problems remain in the industry, including failure to fulfill the plan for the production of raw cotton, high electricity tariffs and the lack of seasonal tariffs for enterprises in the industry, limited access of enterprises to soft loans, as well as a shortage of highly qualified specialists in textile enterprises.
In order to support processing enterprises and increase the production of textile products, the Government of the country has introduced a number of incentive measures in the tariff and non-tariff spheres. However, these benefits are not used effectively by manufacturers and do not have a significant impact on the saturation of the consumer market and the budget.
During the meeting, a report by Deputy Minister of Industry and New Technologies Nazar Aziz Savzali on the issue under discussion was heard.
The Ministry of Industry and New Technologies has developed a set of necessary measures to further improve ways to increase the volume of production and processing of cotton fiber, and together with the relevant ministries and departments, measures will be taken to eliminate administrative and artificial barriers in this area.
Following the meeting, taking into account the reports, speeches and issues discussed, the Interdepartmental Headquarters made the relevant decisions, which will be sent to the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan for further instructions to the relevant ministries and departments.
