Dushanbe, Tajikistan, August 23, 2023 – U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan, Manuel P. Micaller, visited Tajikistan’s Gorno-Badakhshon Autonomous Region (GBAO) August 9-18. While in GBAO, the Ambassador visited U.S. Government-funded health, drinking water, food security, education, and clean energy sites. He met with the Governor of GBAO, Alisher Mirzonabot, to discuss bilateral cooperation, and attended the Pamir Investment Forum in Khorugh.
On his way to GBAO, Ambassador Micaller stopped in Kulob to meet with Mayor Nazarzoda Bakhtiyor Khudoyor and local organizations to discuss our coordinated efforts to prevent and treat Tuberculosis.
The Ambassador travelled to GBAO’s Rushon district, where he opened the village of Bopasor’s first-ever clean drinking water system through a partnership with the Aga Khan Foundation. He visited projects funded by the American people to improve food security, including a new 1.5-hectare greenhouse in Vamar Village that will provide fresh vegetables to the GBAO region, and a World Food Program food distribution in Yapshorv Village that benefits vulnerable families. He met with entrepreneurs in Khorugh to discuss the business and investment climate in GBAO, including the founder of Mountain Food Products, which was established following Pamir Invest in 2011 with direct U.S. investment.
The Ambassador visited several United States government programs and partners that promote education in GBAO, including the American Space in Khorugh, which organizes educational and cultural programs for over 10,000 people each year, and the University of Central Asia (UCA) and its School for Professional and Continuing Education. The Ambassador highlighted the United States support for UCA’s mission, to bring the educational opportunities of the highest quality to all of Tajikistan’s citizens. He highlighted the U.S. government’s investment of $30 million that was provided for construction of its campus. Ambassador Micaller praised participants in U.S. Embassy supported English language training such as the English Access Micro scholarship program.
Along with the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, Mr. Emomali Rahmon, the Ambassador opened the USAID and Pamir Energy supported Murgab Solar Power Plant (SPP). He stated in his remarks that this project demonstrated “how national governments, international donor organizations, and private companies can combine forces to solve some of the region’s greatest development challenges.”
The Ambassador emphasized U.S.-Tajikistan cooperation, declaring he was “proud of the fact that the United States has invested $2 billion in assistance to this great country, an investment into our shared goals such as health care, education, exchanges, English language teaching, development, and agriculture.”
Ambassador Micaller admired the friendliness and hospitality of the people during his visit and stressed the shared goals of enhancing Tajikistan’s economy, healthcare, and education in cooperation with the government, private sector, and civil society, providing more opportunities to the people of Badakhshon and all of Tajikistan.
