On December 25, Emomali Rahmon initiated a meeting with local business entrepreneurs in Dushanbe,  to allow local businessmen to discuss the problems and difficulties they face while conducting small-scale private business. The meeting lasted for six hours. For the first two, the president read a report of recent economic achievements and developments; afterwards, local entrepreneurs were given a chance to express their concerns and have a discussion with the president. It is hoped that the participation of local entrepreneurs will help reform the national tax code.

An online survey of the newspaper Asia-plus showed that 67.5 pecent of private entrepreneurs see the local authorities (i.e. innumerable annual checkups and controls, high levels of corruption) as the main obstacle to the growth of small business in Tajikistan. The high level of governmental corruption, excessive bureaucracy, high taxes, and limited access to credits are the main obstacles currently faced by Tajik entrepreneurs.

The president expressed his dissatisfaction with the results of the survey, and asserted that private entrepreneurs should pay instead of shun taxes – thus, local authorities would no longer exert pressure. He asked his audience how the results of the survey were even possible, when he – the head of the country – had taken the issue under his control. The audience was lost for words and provided no response. Rahmon then urged local businessmen to invest in the construction of the Rogun and other hydro projects. Overall, the meeting was a sermon, with the president teaching businessmen how to work. He gave numerous instructions to ministries and national banks to take the necessary measures to improve the business environment in the country, specifically asking banks to increase the terms for repayments of credits and to decrease interest rates for credit.

Similar meetings have taken place several times in the past, in 2001 and 2003. Likewise, private entrepreneurs then complained about the difficulties of opening and running a small business. Mr. Rahmon promised to solve all problems and make the business environment in Tajikistan more attractive. Meanwhile, labor migrates to Russia to earn money: the numbers for January to October 2007 alone show $1.18 billion in remittances sent back to Tajikistan. This money could have been spent to invest in private business, to ensure stable incomes for many families. But this is only possible with a continuous and uninterrupted supply of electricity – and a normal business environment (i.e. low taxes, little bureaucracy, and security for private property). As yet, very few remittances are invested in private business, as it is safer and more attractive to buy real estate or a car than to open a business in Tajikistan.

In September 2007, dozens of shops, restaurants, cafes and the whole market of Dushanbe were taken down. No explanations were offered, except that these constructions contradicted the new plan of the city. No compensation was issued to private entrepreneurs; no suits were brought against the government. In the absence of the rule of law and the security of private property, the internal private business is not going to grow – and will be suffocated in the multilevel bureaucracy and bribery system. Private entrepreneurs complain that their business aims not at development, but rather survival. There is therefore little incentive to open a small business, unless one has what is referred to as a “roof” (government officials to back up the business, and to ease the registration and tax payments). As the bureaucracy currently stands, private business largely remains in the shadow economy. For a number of tax rates (though not the income tax), Tajikistan is in a leading position in the region.

The recent discussion and its outcome differ in no way from previous ones in 2001 and 2003. The main problems had already been highlighted – what is lacking is implementation. To this end, there was a 2001 law on “State Protection and Support of Entrepreneurs.” And there were the 2004 special governmental regulations on the concept of development of entrepreneurs in the Republic of Tajikistan, in effect until 2015. The problems of private entrepreneurs were accorded extensive long-term resolution: the organization of a special Coordination Council, where private entrepreneurs, government representatives and even international experts would convene. However, like many other initiatives, the laws remained on paper, getting killed in the bureaucracy. Meanwhile, problems remain.