Page 20 - Small Stans Outlook 2024

project had loaded its first shipment of lead and zinc concentrate for delivery to off-taker Trafigura.
In agriculture, Tajikistan’s prospects remain vulnerable to climate change, with the melting of glaciers previously relied upon for steady water flows to agricultural lands one big difficulty. Greenhouse cultivation is seen as the best path forward by many horticultural growers.
The number of horticulture greenhouses operating across Tajikistan by late 2023 rose to 950, covering an area of 166 hectares (410 acres), whereas in 2020 there were only enough such greenhouses to cover 101.5 hectares, according to the agriculture ministry.
The figures were announced as Tajikistan celebrated 2023 as a bumper fruit harvest year that delivered 456,000 tonnes, surpassing 2022’s yield by 47,000 tonnes.
5.3 Real economy - Turkmenistan
Economic players in Turkmenistan and across Central Asia were in November warned that more than 20% of Central Asia’s land area is degraded. The sobering statistic came from the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), which launched the UNCCD Data Dashboard.
The area is equivalent to roughly 80mn hectares, or 800,000 square kilometres, an area almost four times the size of Kyrgyzstan. It affects an estimated 30% of the region’s combined population.
Turkmenistan has committed to restoring 160,000 hectares under its national ‘greening the desert’ initiative by 2025.
In the airline industry, Turkmenistan Airlines at the end of 2023 took delivery of its first Boeing B777-300ER, a former Cathay Pacific aircraft. A second aircraft was still being readied at a US airport and would be handed over soon, according to aviation24.be.
In May, the flag carrier announced the launch of a UK-Vietnam cargo route.
Part of the Berdimuhamedov personality cult is the ruling family’s pursuit of indomitable health and vigour, often through the family head’s much-hyped sporting exploits. Pushing the health angle, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov is currently engaged in a crusade to make Turkmenistan tobacco-free by 2025.
On January 1, the regime hiked the excise tax rate on cigarettes and other tobacco products from 116% of the customs value to 145%.
As part of the anti-smoking drive, smokers were last year paraded on state TV
in programmes where they confessed to “wrongdoings” – including bringing tobacco products into the country or posting photos on social media that showed them smoking hookahs at home.
When it comes to investment in the Turkmen economy, South Korea is right now very active in looking to capitalise on opportunities, including in construction and technology rollouts for the country’s brand new “smart city”
20 Small Stans 2023 www.intellinews.com