DUSHANBE, November 4 (RIA Novosti) — Russia has allocated $6.7 million in grants to Tajikistan in order to improve the well-being of one million locals who live in rural communities, the UN Resident Coordinator in Tajikistan said Tuesday.
"[We are setting up] a three-year-long project aimed at supporting the rural population in 9 regions of Tajikistan. 50 programs will be implemented to improve the social and economic infrastructure, more than 500 people will be trained in new professions and more than 2,000 micro loans will be distributed," Alexander Zuev said.
Russian ambassador to Tajikistan, Igor Lyakin-Frolov, referred to the project as a new and important milestone in Russia-Tajikistan relations. "Our relations are currently developing positively both in the political sphere and in economics, trade and culture," said the Russian diplomat.
According to Lyakin-Frolov, for the past few years Russia has been the main investor of Tajikistan, contributing a total of $1.3 billion which is more than 26 percent of foreign investments in the country.
Lyakin-Frolov said that the current program is the first joint Russia – UNDP project to provide the assistance to Tajikistan. "Russia will continue its efforts to provide aid to Tajikistan in various spheres, both on a bilateral basis and with international organizations," he added.
Tajikistan has one of the lowest GDP per capita in the world. In 2013, 21.1 percent of the country's GDP came from agriculture. According to the most recent CIA estimates, more than 35 percent of the local population live below the poverty line.
