Foreign investors operating in these zones have the right to transfer, deposit and export hard currency without restrictions. Investors may earn unlimited profits, repatriate after-tax profits, and export their products. Also, enterprises may freely set prices of their goods and services within the free trade zone. Enterprises in which foreigners hold more than 30 percent will be charged 50 percent profit tax during the next three years and 30 percent during the next ten years. Reinvested profits are exempt from taxation.
All enterprises are exempt from profit taxes for the first three years of profitable operation.
For details on the location of these free economic zones, contact the Turkmen Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations directly. By presidential decree, foreign investors are freely able to repatriate profits and exchange national currency, manats, for dollars at the exchange rate established by regular central bank auctions. Due to Turkmenistan's hard currency shortage, investors may sometimes experience difficulty exchanging money. At present, there is no legal system in place to enforce property and contractual rights. In the event of a dispute between investors and the government, the problem must be worked out directly between the two parties.