Cluster import substitution policy as a direction for ensuring economic security of Tajikistan: application of the Russian experience
Abstract. Implementation of import substitution policy is important in the context of ensuring economic security of countries. For Tajikistan, which is in strict dependence on imports, the development of an effective import substitution policy is necessary to solve the strategic objectives of economic development facing the country. Given the peculiarities of the economic situation in the country and the world, it is most promisingto use the Russian experience of implementation of the policy of cluster import substitution, since it largely differs from the realities of Tajikistan and allows solving existing problems. Relevance of the article due to the need for revision of foreign economic and domestic production policy of Tajikistan in order to bringthe country`s economy out of stagnation. The paper considers the most promising directions of cluster import substitution policy in the Republic of Tajikistan, and identifies instruments and measures of such policy based on the Russian experience of clustering the economy. Due to the peculiarities of conducting statistics in Tajikistan, the basic method of research is comparative analysis. Based on the results of the study, five clusters of light and food industry in Tajikistan with potential for development were identified, as well as proposed measures to improve the state policy of cluster import substitution, In particular, the establishment of cluster development centres and the fight against bureaucracy and corruption.
Keywords: economic security, foreign economic activity, industrial development, economic clustering, import substitution, import dependence, economic policy, strategic interests of the state.
Highlights:
- ensuring the economic security of the Republic of Tajikistan directly depends on solving the problem of its import dependence and creating conditions for the development of domestic production of those goods for which the country has the resources and opportunities to produce. These measures will broaden the tax base, partially solve the problem of unemployment and provide the population with cheaper and more accessible goods;
- Tajikistan during the existence of the Soviet Union specialized in the production of light goods and food industry. At present, production in these areas has declined sharply, but the potential for expansion and self-sufficiency in manufactured goods remains. Given the experience of Russia, the best solution to eliminate the problem is the implementation of a policy of cluster import substitution;
- the main obstacles to the effective implementation of the cluster importsubstitution policy are the high level of bureaucracy and corruption in Tajikistan and the lack of reliable sources of financing. Solving these problems will create conditions for the active development of import-substituting clusters in the republic.
Nadezhda Yu. Blinichkina - Samara State University of Economics, Samara, Russia; Zufar A. Kosimov - Tajik State University of Law, Business and Politics, Khujand, Republic of Tajikistan