Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Before coming to Almaty, I was able to volunteer for a project that involved interviewing businesses and organizations in the countries of Central Asia to learn about their perspective of the business and political environment in their respective countries.

The project started a couple of weeks ago, and my team visited Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. We stayed for just a few days and didn't really have any time for sightseeing. This photo was taken from a window at our hotel. There was a lot of other interesting things to see down there, but I'll have to get pictures the next time I go.

While I was there, I received a request from one of my co-workers to bring back some tea. Apparently, you can get really good tea in Tajikistan, but I was told that Tajikistan doesn't actually produce any tea. Regardless, I had a task, but there was no time to get to the market to buy the stuff. Our last meeting took place right before we needed to get to the airport for the trip back. When I got to the airport, our logistics coordinator was waiting for me with a plastic shopping bag. He had asked one of the drivers to get some tea, and the driver got some -- about 5 pounds or so.

I was happy that he was able to get this tea, but I wasn't sure how it was going work out going through customs -- at airports in two different countries. Of course, it seems that Americans tend to get treated more easily than others in developing countries, and I also had my diplomatic passport to help the situation as well. When all else fails, pull the dip card.

As it turned out, there were no questions at all. Most likely, the customs staff see this all the time because there is significant traffic between Kazakhstan and the other countries in Central Asia. Often, people are bringing huge quantities of stuff to sell or to give to family members. And they could probably identify tea if they saw it.

Getting to Work

After getting about as accustomed to riding public transportation in a developing country as a foreigner who doesn't speak the language so well can get, I thought those days would be over here in Almaty. For housing, my only request was to be placed within walking distance of the office. Apparently, that request had no bearing on where I ended up.

I suppose if the price of having an apartment as nice as this one is a 50-minute walk to the office, I'll take it. For the first two weeks after I arrived in Almaty, I walked to work and back home at night. Then, I wondered why I was so tired all the time. There are a few other people in the office who live near me, and they recommended which buses to take to work. The photo here is my bus stop. I have no idea where that 73 bus goes though.

When I was in Macedonia, there was a noticeable difference in the quality of bus that seemed to vary according to how long its route was. Local buses were the worst; inter-city buses with a ride of 40-60 minutes were pretty bad; inter-city buses with a ride of 2 or more hours were decent (except for that Yugotrans bus with the seats that would slide into the aisle when we were going around mountain curves).

Granted, my experience with buses is pretty limited here in Almaty, having ridden just two different bus routes. However, there seems to be a remarkable difference between them. The bus I take most frequently is generally in poor condition, but they come on a relatively regular schedule and don't stink. Unfortunately, the handholds are at head level, and I have to be careful when the bus is starting, stopping, and turning.

The other bus is as nice as DC Metro buses (and I thought they were just fine). The one drawback to them is that they have curtains that tend to be drawn across the windows. I'm not familiar enough with the streets to know when to get off without looking out the window, so I tend to stick to the other one. Riding the bus seems to earn me some points with the locals, so that's a nice little bonus.

State-Owned vs. Privately-Owned Enterprises

In the pictures below, you can kind of see the difference between what private companies provide to customers and what state-owned enterprises offer.

Tajik Air is owned by the government of Tajikistan, and the amenities on the flight were a bit lacking -- even by modern US airline standards. On the flight back from Tajikistan, there was a woman in my row who found out before takeoff that her seat did not have a safety belt. I think I was more worried about it than she was, though.

Somon Air is owned by a private investment company and seems to have a much better idea of customer service -- cleaner plane, nicer meal, better dressed flight attendants.

It's generally difficult to explain what my job entails now, but it's basically improving the economic situation in the countries where we work. It's common wisdom that, in market economies, private companies are better at delivering goods and services than the government. Countries transitioning from state-directed to market-directed economies offer a good lens to view the difference between what the state can provide and what private companies can provide to customers.

In the case of Tajikistan, there is still significant government control over the economy (through a variety of overt and covert methods), but there are glimmers of private enterprise showing through, like Somon Air. It seems surprising that -- despite over-regulation, corruption, and other problems -- people still find ways to make business work. The key is to find ways to get the government out of the way to let businesses grow -- or fail -- as the market determines. That's what drives economic growth and employment. And gets you two hard-boiled eggs on your your flight to Dushanbe.

Somon Air -- Privately-Owned Company

Tajik Air -- State-Owned Enterprise