DUSHANBE, September 24, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- On Wednesday September 23, the State Committee for Investments and State-owned Property Management (GosKomInvest) hosted a meeting of representatives of Tajik microfinance organizations with senior representatives of GosKomInvest and the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT).

The sides discussed issues related to providing loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the country.

During the meeting it was noted that more than 1.7 billion somoni have been provided in loans to the population since the beginning of this year.  152,000 entrepreneurs have received preferential loans over the report period that has allowed creating new jobs.

The GosKomInvest head Farrukh Hamraliyev noted that some 1 million Tajik nationals were currently involved in entrepreneurship in different sectors of economy.

Speaking at the meeting, the head of the Association of Microfinance Organization of Tajikistan (AMFOT), Farhod Akbarov, noted that the country’s microfinance institution intended to increase supply of loans to local entrepreneurs despite the global financial crisis.