Frontier markets are considered a potentially interesting area form the investment point of view, but not as much as they deserve. Mikro Kapital, which has always been active in this sense with its privileged focus on the countries along the Silk Road, wants to shed further light on areas not so well known by investors.

After the success of the two events in partnership with the Embassy of the Republic of Tajikistan in the Swiss Confederation and Imon international in September in Zurich and Geneva, Mikro Kapital, decided to repeat the event in Milan on January 25th this time in partnership with the Embassy of the Republic of Tajikistan to the French Republic and to the Italian republic.

The conferences took place in Switzerland, entitled “Investing in Central Asia, a journey to Tajikistan “, brought together representatives of the Swiss financial world interested in ESG investments in developing countries along the Silk Road, with the aim to describe in detail the economic opportunities of Tajikistan and the reasons brought Mikro Kapital to operating in the Tajik territory. One figure above all: the Central Asian Republic has made steady progress in poverty reduction and economic growth, recording a significant decline in the poverty rate, from 83% to 26.3% between 2000 and 2021, and an average growth rate of the national economy equal to 7% per year.

The event which will be held in Milan in January, will allow participants to learn about the most recent development and investment projects in the country, including the four key objectives of the strategy of national development until 2030: food security, the guarantee of energy independence, the acceleration of industrialization and the transformation of the country into a privileged infrastructural transit corridor. The Ambassador will also describe the efforts and the advantageous systems developed by the Tajik government, which aims to encourage the attraction of investments and entrepreneurial activities in the country.

Vincenzo Trani, president of Mikro Kapital, will focus on the strengths of microcredit – for example the low correlation with the stock markets – and on the reasons that led Mikro Kapital to pay particular attention to the Central Asian region. In extreme synthesis, the fact that micro-entrepreneurship represents the backbone of the economic systems of the area, the fact that the entrepreneurial mentality is part of the DNA of the regional populations and the concrete possibility of generating a positive social impact, given the nature of micro credit real impact investing, especially if carried out in emerging economies. The focus on Tajikistan is linked to the country’s excellent growth prospects, the priority established by national authorities on ESG investments and the important steps taken to increase access to financial services.

The last speech, by Andrey Palka, CEO of Imon International, will be focused on the description of the Tajik entrepreneurial reality, where micro, small and medium-sized enterprises are the key to success and an important role is managed by female entrepreneurs. There is no shortage of data to support this view: in 2022, for example, according to the World Bank’s “Women, Business and Law” index, Tajikistan occupies the 71st position worldwide out of 187 countries examined by the index itself. Not only that, 45% of the Tajik workforce is represented by women. Palka will also describe the EBRD project, “Women in Business”, in which Imon has participated since 2017 and which provides 360 ° support to local female entrepreneurs.