17.08.2018
President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon continued negotiations in an expanded format with participation of official delegations of the two countries.
Issues of expansion of cooperation in political, trade-economic, transport-communication, investment, agricultural and water management, tourism and other spheres were discussed.
Due to the adopted targeted measures, the trade turnover is dynamically growing. In the first half of this year, the trade turnover increased by 35.1 percent. In 2018, trade agreements were signed for more than $300 million.
The President of Uzbekistan noted that the current trade turnover does not correspond to the potential of the two countries, there are wide unused opportunities for bringing it to 1 billion dollars.
Development of road, rail and air services contributes to the expansion of the scale of trade and economic cooperation. Partnership in the energy sector is strengthening. Since April of this year, natural gas supplies to Tajikistan have been resumed, and the amount of electricity purchased from Tajikistan is increasing. It was noted that both sides are ready to continue making practical efforts for more effective cooperation in transport and development of international transit corridors.
This year became a breakthrough in the history of bilateral relations. Since the beginning of this year, more than 50 meetings have taken place at various levels, four sessions of the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation were held.
The visit of the head of Tajikistan will create new opportunities for expanding the use of trade-economic and transport-communication potential of our countries. Most importantly, friendly ties will serve as an important factor in ensuring the well-being of people and sustainable development of Central Asia.
During the negotiations, the need was noted for taking joint measures on expanding cooperation between business structures and border regions of the two countries. Agreements have been reached to accelerate the implementation of projects for the assembly of agricultural machinery, production of building materials, food products, finished textile, electrical products and other goods.
The sides discussed issues of countering terrorism, religious extremism, drug trafficking, transnational crime, other threats and challenges to international security, expressed their readiness to strengthen mutual understanding and constructive cooperation in implementation of large hydropower projects.