DUSHANBE, September 20, 2014, Asia-Plus -- Secretary-General of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), Mr. Christophe Bernasconi, is expected to arrive in Tajikistan on an official visit on September 25.

According to the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Country Office in Tajikistan, Mr. Bernasconi will hold talks with relevant Tajik state officials to discuss issues related to benefits of the Apostille Convention for citizens of Tajikistan and the country’s private sector.  

IFC and the American Chamber of Commerce are partnering with the Tajik Government to help the country join the Hague Convention on Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Official Documents, commonly known as Apostille Convention.

Replacing the traditionally lengthy legalization process with an authentication certificate, the Apostille Convention will help simplify the process of producing official documents abroad and give companies a high degree of legal certainty in cross-border situations.

Tajikistan’s lower-chamber (Majlisi Namoyandagon) is expected to discuss Tajikistan’s joining the Apostille Convention in the near future.  

The Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) is the preeminent organization in the area of private international law. The HCCH was formed in 1893 to "work for the progressive unification of the rules of private international law". It has pursued this goal by creating and assisting in the implementation of multilateral conventions promoting the harmonization of conflict of laws principles in diverse subject matters within private international law. The Conference has developed thirty-eight international conventions since its Statute was completed in 1951. 

The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement for Legalization for Foreign Public Documents, the Apostille Convention, or the Apostille Treaty is an international treaty drafted by the Hague Conference on Private International Law. It specifies the modalities through which a document issued in one of the signatory countries can be certified for legal purposes in all the other signatory states.  Such a certification is called an apostille (French: certification). It is an international certification comparable to a notarization in domestic law, and normally supplements a local notarization of the document.

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector.  It helps developing countries achieve sustainable growth by financing investment, mobilizing capital in international financial markets, and providing advisory services to businesses and governments.

Tajikistan became a member of IFC in 1994. Since 1997, IFC has invested $133 million to support 40 private sector projects in the financial sector, hydro power, retail, tourism and manufacturing sectors.  In Tajikistan, IFC works with private sector clients, government, and civil society to bring global expertise to the country through its advisory services and investment projects.