At previous 8th meeting of the Consultative Council, which was held on 8 November, 2011, the members of the Consultative Council considered number questions of the day for the development of business environment.
It is significant that among them were the problems under consideration hampering growth of the leasing market development in the country, which solution is of particular meaning. According to representatives of private sector, the existing regime of VAT implementation and customs duties for import of equipment and delivery of equipment through leasing transactions is a serious obstruction on the way of the development of the market of leasing services in the Republic of Tajikistan. According to conducted analysis, only in the last two years significantly reduced the number of organizations providing leasing services, and consequently decreased the volume of leasing transactions.
Measures on improving the economic efficiency of agriculture sphere in achieving food security had been also discussed at the meeting.
It was noted that, despite some progress in the agricultural sector, farmers are still faced with problems such as lack of pesticides, quality seeds, modern equipment and spare parts for it, poor land reclamation, etc.
To correct the described problem, a number of specific measures were proposed, including insertion changes and additions to the Tax Code of the Republic of Tajikistan in a part of VAT exemption of imported agricultural facilities, including some types of seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, etc.
As the result, listening to the arguments of members of the Consultative Council from government agencies, representatives of private sector and development partners, the Chairman of the Advisory Council made the following orders:
- the relevant departments of the Executive Office of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan to prepare drafts of regulatory acts proposed by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Tajikistan on taxation procedures implemented through leasing and to submit to the regular meeting of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan;
- Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Tajikistan as a matter of urgency to study the issue of exemption from VAT and customs duties for imported fertilizers and manures, pesticides and quality seeds, to prepare the necessary drafts of regulatory acts and in established order to submit to the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan;
Instructions of the Chairman of the Consultative Council were timely implemented by responsible government agencies, and submitted to the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan for consideration.
As a result, the drafts of regulatory acts, which provide for exemption from VAT and customs duties of imported equipment and technologies for manufacturing facilities, purchased on a leasing basis, as well as imported fertilizers and manures, pesticides and quality seeds were approved at the meeting of the Government of Tajikistan held on November 29, 2011.
The proposed changes significantly improve the investment climate in the Republic of Tajikistan in the sphere of the market development of leasing services, and will contribute to the development of agriculture sector in the country and achieving food security.
