DUSHANBE (TCA) — Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, on an official visit to Tajikistan, and his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rahmon on May 16 officially inaugurated the assembly production of Belarusian agricultural machinery in the Tajik town of Hisor, BelTA news agency reported.
The presidents unveiled a commemorative plaque on the premises of the plant, familiarized themselves with the production, discussed its development prospects and spoke with the company’s employees.
Director of Agrotechservice Jalolidin Nuraliev told reporters that Tajikistan needs new machinery, because its vehicle pool has been worn out.
“As of today, we need about 10,000 tractors alone. Therefore, we decided to launch an assembly facility here. This also dovetails with the program to create new jobs and to turn Tajikistan from an agricultural country into an agricultural and industrial country,” he said.
Nuraliev said that talks are in progress to sell the Belarusian machinery assembled in Tajikistan on the markets of third countries, including Afghanistan.
MTZ and Bobruiskagromash (Belarus) together with Agrotechservice are implementing a project to launch the assembly production of tractors, mounted and trailed equipment in Hisor. This production was included by the government of Tajikistan in the list of very important facilities. The parties are mulling over to abolish VAT (18%) on jointly produced agricultural machinery in Tajikistan.
At present, the production complex includes a small assembly shop (1,100 square meters), a finished goods warehouse, an outdoor area for agricultural machinery display and an administrative and educational building. The construction of an assembly shop with a total area of more than 1,600 square meters is underway. It will include three lines to assemble Belarusian equipment.
At present the company assembles Belarus-80.1 and Belarus-82.1 tractors. There are plans to expand assembly production to sell new products on the markets of Tajikistan and Afghanistan.
