International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member the World Bank Group, has announced the launch of the IFC Central Asia Corporate Governance Project in Tajikistan.

The objective is to improve the corporate governance practices of the country’s joint stock companies, including banks, helping strengthen their operations and their ability to attract investment. Evidence shows that poor corporate governance is a critical stumbling block to individual companies’ as well as entire countries’ economic growth and attractiveness to investors. By contrast, companies with good corporate governance have better access to finance, trade their shares at higher prices, increase efficiency, enjoy quicker decision-making, and have less likelihood of fraud and abuse of power.

Over the next two years, the project’s Tajikistan team, based in Dushanbe, will provide a series of seminars, training courses, and individual consultations on a wide variety of corporate governance topics to shareholders, supervisory board members, and managers of joint stock companies. In addition, a limited number of companies and banks, selected through a competitive process, will participate in a comprehensive pilot programme aimed at developing their corporate governance practices.

IFC will also advise the government of Tajikistan on how to improve the corporate governance legislative framework and will work with the local media to raise public awareness about the importance of good corporate governance. Clients in Tajikistan will benefit from IFC’s regional and worldwide expertise in corporate governance advisory services.

The expansion of the corporate governance project into Tajikistan is the second phase of development for IFC’s Central Asia Corporate Governance Project, which commenced in 2006 in Kazakhstan.

Karl Bach, Project Manager of IFC Central Asia Corporate Governance Project, commented, "The Tajikistan team has a unique opportunity to improve clients’ knowledge and practices, drawing on both IFC’s extensive experience with corporate governance projects throughout the CIS as well as international best practices. Improving corporate governance is a continuous process. This work will enable Tajik companies to improve their corporate governance culture, and it will contribute to development of the country’s private sector."

As of June 2007, more than 8,300 companies in the CIS have received training or consultations on corporate governance from IFC and have attracted investments of more than US$2.3 billion, including US$112 million from IFC.