The Tajik government certainly hopes so. It has just organised its first ever investment conference – and with some 600 people in attendance, it would seem there is certainly some curiosity about what Tajikistan has to offer.

International investors may have an opportunity to take a closer look at Tajikistan soon: the central bank last week signed up Standard & Poor’s to provide Tajikistan’s first credit rating, a move which may be a prelude to a maiden bond. And Talco, the state aluminium company, has suggested it may consider a listing in a few years’ time.

With 8m people and GDP of just $8.5bn last year (making it one of the world’s 30 poorest countries by GDP per capita), Tajikistan is not an obvious destination for foreign investment. Add endemic corruption, unreliable electricity supplies, ever-changing tax and customs regulations, an economy under pressure from the slowdown in Russia and competition from politically-backed Chinese investors and it is clear that investing in Tajikistan is only for the hardiest souls.

In theory at least, the country holds plentiful opportunities.

It may be poor, but it is growing fast: GDP growth has averaged 7.4 per cent over the last three years.

It is home to one of the largest silver deposits in the world, as well as significant gold deposits. It is one of the largest producers of antimony, a strategic minor metal, outside of China. And just last year, Total of France and CNPC of China partnered with Canadian-listed explorer Tethys Petroleum to work on exploring a natural gas deposit that one western diplomat says could be “a complete game changer”.

In a region where electricity shortages are common (ironically, including in Tajikistan itself) the country has some of the world’s potential hydroelectric power resources. According to government estimates, it has the potential to produce 527bn kilowatt hours a year – an amount equivalent to more than 100 Hoover dams – but it is using only about 5 per cent of that potential.

And Tajikistan is also blessed with fertile agricultural land – which may offer an opportunity as Russia searches for new sources of fruit and vegetables after banning European imports. Frederic Lobbe, who is opening the first branch of French supermarket chain Auchan in Dushanbe, says the move will expand trade between Tajikistan and Russia – where Auchan also has a significant presence.

“Many of the products will come in trucks from Russia and we don’t want them to go back empty,” he says. “We want them to go back loaded with Tajik grapes, apricots, cherries and onions.”

Finally, there are hopes that Tajikistan can reclaim its ancient Silk Road role as a major transit country, facilitating trade from China and Afghanistan to Russia and the west.

But after a week reporting in Dushanbe (including moderating a forum hosted by the FT and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on the Tajik business climate) it is hard to have any illusions about the challenges of investing in Tajikistan.

The most significant is corruption: Tajikistan ranks 154 out of 177 countries on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index. Much of the economy is in the hands of the president’s family: his brother-in-law controls the largest bank, the main private airline, and is linked to the aluminium factory which accounts for much of the country’s export earnings; his son heads the customs service.

The US state department criticised Tajikistan’s “egregious corruption” in a scathing report on investment in the country earlier this year. One western diplomat is blunter still: “It’s a kleptocracy.”

Even if investors can navigate the political maze of the Tajik elite, however, there are other concerns. Tajikistan’s geographical location is as much a curse as a blessing. It has a long-running feud with Uzbekistan, and skirmishes this year have also created tension on the Kyrgyz border. But perhaps most significantly, it has 1400km of border with Afghanistan. As one major foreign investor in the country says: “Security is my primary concern.”

Electricity supply, though improved, remains erratic. According to a recent survey by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Tajik businesses suffer 11 outages per month, and losses due topower outages were equivalent to 10 per cent of annual sales.

There has been some progress: Tajikistan has introduced a “one-stop shop” that has reduced the amount of time necessary to register a new business. Last year, it joined the WTO. And it is in talks to join the EITI, a natural resources anti-corruption initiative.

Those efforts have persuaded a few brave private-sector investors to come to Tajikistan. In addition to Total and Auchan, there is CHL Limited, an Indian family company which is due to open the Dushanbe Sheraton in November, and a group of Turkish investors who are building a Coca Cola bottling plant.

But the problems outlined above mean the vast majority of investment into Tajikistan has been limited to politically-backed Russian and Chinese companies (often state-owned), and international financial institutions such as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

As Susan Elliott, US ambassador to Dushanbe, puts it: “I would love to have more American and European investment — it is a win-win for America and Tajikistan — but I need to be honest about the investment climate. Many US and international companies who have done business in Tajikistan have faced difficulties.”