Druzhba Zavody: Russia allows business with third countries through technology parks in Asia

Russia and Tajikistan have already started developing an investment agreement on the construction of a joint industrial park in the republic, the Russian Embassy in Dushanbe told Izvestia. The Russian side allows cooperation with third countries through similar technology parks in the republic, this is possible as residents are attracted. Technoparks with Russian participation are currently operating only in Uzbekistan and Belarus. The Russian Federation is also interested in opening them in Kazakhstan. The deployment of Russian production facilities in Central Asian countries will allow Moscow to reduce costs when exporting goods to the region and increase trade, experts say. What interests are pursued by the Central Asian countries and whether the Russian Federation can continue to expand the network of industrial parks — in the Izvestia article.

Russian Industrial Park in Tajikistan

Moscow and Dushanbe have begun work on an investment agreement on the establishment of a joint industrial park in the republic.

"The construction start dates will be determined after the completion of the investment agreement, approval of design estimates and other necessary procedures," the Russian Embassy said.

The prospects for the construction of a technology park in Tajikistan have been discussed with the Russian side for several years. The project to create the facility started in 2024. At that time, the basic conditions for its operation were agreed upon, an expert examination was conducted with the participation of a potential Russian operator, and the amount of necessary financing was determined. The intergovernmental agreement on the establishment of the facility was signed on March 17 this year during the visit of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon to the Russian Federation.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Eduard Kornienko

The new facility will increase the number of Russian industrial economic operators in the country and contribute to a 2.5-fold increase in bilateral trade by 2030.

The site of the industrial park will be under Russian management, and companies from Russia and other countries will be able to become its residents. The products will be supplied to the markets of Tajikistan and neighboring countries.

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The Russian Federation allows cooperation with third countries through industrial parks in Central Asia. This is possible as residents are attracted, the Russian Embassy in Tajikistan explained to Izvestia.

— At this stage, the issue of entering into cooperation with third countries has not been worked out. It will be possible to return to this issue as the functioning of the industrial park develops, attracting residents and organizing their activities," the diplomats said.

Photo: Global Look Press/Vadym Zhuravlov

Potentially, the Russian Federation can actually cooperate with European companies on the territory of the technopark, says Fedor Arzhaev, a leading researcher at the Institute for International Economic Relations Research at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation.

— Another issue is that there is a problem of secondary sanctions. Naturally, European companies can themselves refuse to cooperate with the Russian side. But at least such cooperation is possible," he says.

The region itself is also interested in opening industrial parks. First of all, they will allow attracting foreign investments to Central Asia.

— By themselves, the economies of Central Asia, except for Kazakhstan, are probably not very attractive for a large investor. The size of countries and the investment climate make it difficult to attract investment," the expert says.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Volkov

Central Asia is now also interested in attracting Russian technologies, and technology parks will allow sharing this experience. The Russian Federation has a developed energy engineering and machine tool industry, which the region needs right now.

Why is the Russian Federation expanding its network of technoparks

Industrial parks with Russian participation are already operating in Uzbekistan at sites in Chirchik and Jizzakh. More than 30 companies from different countries have become their residents. By the end of 2025, two more similar facilities with Russian participation will be ready for launch in the Navoi and Bukhara regions of the republic.

In 2024, Denis Zhuravsky, executive director of the Association of Industrial Parks of Russia, reported that some Central Asian countries and Belarus were negotiating with the Russian Federation to establish joint technology parks on their territory. It was about Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus and Tajikistan.

Russia is expanding its network of technology parks in Central Asian countries for several reasons, primarily due to the sanctions pressure. In fact, the technopark is the presence of a Russian company abroad on special terms. We are talking about preferential loans, tax cuts, and the absence of import duties on goods that are necessary for production in this technopark.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Anna Selina

The opening of industrial parks also has an important political moment.

— We can now observe the growing influence of Turkey and China in Central Asia. In Khujand (Tajikistan), for example, 60% of all companies operating in the special economic zone are Chinese. It is clear that this is a certain political risk for us. Therefore, the opening of technoparks is also an increase in Russia's presence in the region, both politically and economically," the expert says.

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In general, the trade turnover of the Russian Federation with the countries of Central Asia has been growing in recent years. In 2023, it exceeded $44 billion, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said. According to him, Russia accounts for 33% of Central Asia's foreign trade, mainly due to the transition to settlements in national currencies.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Anna Selina

There are more than 28,000 Russian joint ventures operating in Central Asia, Sergey Overchenko, Deputy Director of the Third CIS Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, emphasized in 2024. Despite Western sanctions, the parties manage to increase the volume of bilateral trade.

The parties also set new goals for themselves. For example, the exporters of the Russian Federation and Uzbekistan face an ambitious task — to bring mutual trade turnover to $30 billion, which will require diversified supply growth.