Overview
Tajikistan’s ICT sector has the potential to become a force for modernization and development. The Concept for Digital Economy of the Republic of Tajikistan, signed in 2019, lays out the modernization and digitalization goals of the country, transforming the economy from a rural, agricultural one to a modern, digital, and service-based system. That program includes as its first phase the development of data centers, platforms, and digital systems capable of establishing the foundation of a digital economy. In its current form, the telecommunications market is one of the main sectors of the Tajik economy, generating between $250 and $400 million in revenues annually. In December 2022 Tajikistan approved the Law on E-Commerce.
The ICT ecosystem is a complex mix of foreign operators from the People’s Republic of China, the Russian Federation, state-owned enterprises, and telecom systems established by donors and non-governmental organizations such as the Aga Khan Foundation. Burdened by a labyrinthine regulatory environment under the Tajik Communication Service, internet prices in Tajikistan are among the highest in Central Asia. Tajikistan has a total of four terrestrial fiber connections via Uzbekistan, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Kazakhstan that all link to different points of the Frankfurt-Shanghai Trans-Asia Europe (TAE) cable that runs through Russia. Tajikistan has laid over 2,800 kilometers (km) of fiber optic cable in the country. Source: DECA 2023, Tajikistan.
The following standards are available in Tajikistan: GSM, CDMA 20001X, CDMA450A, 3G-UMTS, 4G, and 5G.
Currently, there are 181 business entities with licenses for activities in the field of communications and 275 valid licenses. There are five mobile operators, one national operator, and seven Internet providers. The predominant backbones for the digital system are PRC-origin technologies, mostly manufactured by Huawei and rated as 3G.
Leading Sub-Sectors
- Satellite telecommunications technologies
- Digital technologies to be used for developing e-government services, smart transportation, city infrastructure, and financial sector applications
- Process automatization technologies
- Upgrade and extension of existing fixed and mobile networks
- Content-rich mobile value-added services
- 5G mobile communications technologies
- Mobile number portability (MNP) technologies
- Internet of Things (IoT) equipment and technologies
Resources
- Ministry of Industry and New Technologies
- Ministry of Economic Development and Trade
- Communication Service under the Government
- Tajik-American Chamber of Commerce in Tajikistan
- Tajik Chamber of Commerce and Industry
- Tajik E-Commerce Association
- Online conference: Digital Economy in the Republic of Tajikistan (video)
- E-commerce Development in Tajikistan
- Digital Capabilities Strategic Analysis of Tajikistan
- DIGITAL ECOSYSTEM COUNTRY ASSESSMENTS (Tajikistan’s review will be ready in 2023)
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 estimated | |
| Total Local Production | $243 | $265 | $333 | $350 |
| Total Exports | $.71 | $3.9 | $3.0 | $3.0 |
| Total Imports | $30.0 | $35.0 | $40.0 | $50.0 |
| Imports from the US | $.4 | $.4 | n/a | n/a |
| Total Market Size | $272.0 | $296.0 | $370.0 | $397.0 |
| Exchange Rates | $1 = 10.3380 | $1 = 11.2485 | $1= 10.2153 | $1 = 10.9637 |
(Total market size = (total local production + imports) - exports)
Units: $ millions
Source: TajStat, Customs Agency, U.S. Census