DUSHANBE, March 7, Asia-Plus — An official visit of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko is an important event in bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Ukraine, President Emomali Rahmon remarked at a press conference in Dushanbe on March 7.
According to him, during negotiations, both sides expressed readiness to give a new impulse to further expansion of bilateral many-sided cooperation.
“We charged our ministers to prepare a draft agreement on training of personnel for Tajik army and border services in Ukraine,” President Rahmon said, noting that they reached an agreement on opening of cultural centers and the Tajik embassy in Kiev and the Ukrainian embassy in Dushanbe.
The Tajik president outlined energy, transportation, construction, education and the humanitarian sphere as areas of which could drive the bilateral trade between Tajikistan and Ukraine.
“We are interested in presence of Ukrainian business in Tajikistan’s economy,” Emomali Rahmon said. According to him, a trade between the two countries is expected to increase 2.5-3 times in the coming two years.
For his part, Viktor Yushchenko noted that his country is ready to participate in consortium for completing construction of the Roghun hydroelectric power station (HPS) in Tajikistan. ”Two units for the station have been delivered from Ukraine and we want the remaining units for the Roghun HPS would be also manufactured in Ukraine,” the Ukrainian head of state.
According to him, sectors like road and bridge building, tunnel construction, construction of power grids as well a production of transformers and agricultural machines are among the main directions of bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
Yushchenko also underlined the importance of creating mutually beneficial conditions for transit of goods for free economic zones (FEZs).
On the education cooperation between the two countries, the Ukrainian president said that Ukraine will allot Tajikistan annual quota of 30 students to study at Ukrainian higher educational institutions.
