DUSHANBE, September 26, Asia-Plus  -- A Tajik-Iranian joint venture, TajIran, plans to assemble agricultural tractors in Dushanbe.

Komil Sharipov, chairman of the firm’s board of directors, said that the enterprise began operations on September 22 after a two-day test. 

”As of September 25, the enterprise has assembled 10 tractors,” Sharipov said, noting that at present 60 competitively selected Tajik specialists work at the enterprise.

According to him, the enterprise has the capacity to assemble up to 3,000 tractors a year, some 10-15 tractors a day. ”But everything depends on the demand for our product on the market,” Sharipov added. 

”At present all components for the tractors come from Iran, but we plan to product a number of the components in Tajikistan,” he said. 

The enterprise also intends to produce carts, ploughs and other agricultural machines in the first half of 2007. 

Sharipov said that they will mainly supply Tajik farmers. ”However, we also plan to export our tractors to Central Asian countries and Afghanistan,” he said.  “We have also had interest from the Tajik regions and neighboring countries.” 

According to Sharipov, the first tractors were delivered to Tajikistan from Iran for testing two years ago, “The tractors were tested in Danghara, Hissor, Rasht and Rudaki, and they proved useful,” he said. 

Sharipov said the final price of the assembled tractors will be determined within the next seven to

10 days. He said the price will not exceed US $14,000 per tractor. 

TajIran was created by an agreement between Tajik Industries Minister Zayd Saidov and the Iranian ambassador to Tajikistan, Nasser Sarmad-Parsa, in Dushanbe in mid-June.  Under the agreement Tajikistan owns 49 percent of the shares and Iran holds a 51% ownership interest in the company. The enterprise’s authorized capital is  US $10 million.