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Prince Aga Khan IV, the spiritual leader of the Ismaili movement, opened the first microcredit bank in Dushanbe on 5 July, Asia Plus-Blitz reported. Noting that the bank is intended to combat poverty in Tajikistan, Prince Aga Khan said that it will have an investment fund of $3 million and will provide loans to small businesses at 18 percent annual interest. The bank is only the third of its kind in the region; others are located in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Prince Aga Khan also met with Tajik President Rakhmonov on 5 July, Tajik Radio reported.

Prince Aga Khan IV, the spiritual leader of the Ismaili movement, opened the first microcredit bank in Dushanbe on 5 July, Asia Plus-Blitz reported. Noting that the bank is intended to combat poverty in Tajikistan, Prince Aga Khan said that it will have an investment fund of $3 million and will provide loans to small businesses at 18 percent annual interest. The bank is only the third of its kind in the region; others are located in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Prince Aga Khan also met with Tajik President Rakhmonov on 5 July, Tajik Radio reported.

the President of Tadzhikistan Emomali rakhmonov accepted prince shokh karim Agakhan IV. In the friendly and sincere situation were examined series of questions, connected with the collaboration the governments of republic Tadzhikistan with the fund For agakhan. 'our two-way communications, noted the President of Tadzhikistan Emomali Of rakhmonov, are very fruitful. In particular discovery is bridge between the republic Tadzhikistan the state Afghanistan, strengthen the economic relationships of the countries of region and are the important basic factor of interrelations '.

The spiritual leader of Ismaili Muslims, the Aga Khan, today inaugurated a new bridge crossing a river between Tajikistan and Afghanistan.The 100-meter-long bridge across the Pyandzh river was created to promote trade between the two neighbors. It is the second bridge built in Tajikistan's southeastern Gorno-Badakhshan region and funded by the Aga Khan Development Network, which started funding developments in Tajikistan in 1993.

His Highness the Aga Khan, Imam (spiritual leader) of the Ismaili Muslims, today joined Prime Minister Okilov of Tajikistan in inaugurating the First MicroFinanceBank in Tajikistan, a bank which will expand access to a wide range of banking services for the people of Tajikistan. In countries such as Tajikistan, villagers in remote areas must travel long distances at great expense to access financial services. In addition, commercial banks often do not find it profitable to offer services to the urban poor or to populations living in remote locations.

Tajikistan's President Emomali Rahmonov, His Highness the Aga Khan, Imam (spiritual leader) of the Ismaili Muslims, and Afghanistan's Vice-President Nematullah Shahrani, today inaugurated the Tajik-Afghan Friendship Bridge in Darwaz, which will consolidate permanent overland links between Tajikistan and Afghanistan.Second in a series of bridges to be constructed across the River Panj, the US$500,000 project, undertaken by the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) in collaboration with the two governments, will improve significantly the flow of aid, commerce and trade within Central Asia.

The foundation stone of the Central Asian University campus has been laid in the eastern Tajik town of Khorugh, Tajik television reported on 6 July.It said President Emomali Rahmonov and his entourage (presumably including the visiting world Ismailis leader Prince Aga Khan IV) had attended a ceremony to lay the foundation stone of the university campus, and that Emomali Rahmonov had laid the first stone for the campus.
Aga Khan leader has granted 5m dollars to a donor fund, which he himself has set up, for the construction of the university.

A microfinance bank has been opened in Tajikistan under financial support of the Aga Khan Development (AKDN). Visiting His Highness the Aga Khan, Imam (spiritual leader) of the Ismaili Muslims, and Tajik Prime Minister Oqil Oqilov inaugurated the bank yesterday, July 5.