Uzbekistan has opened its shopping mall, Uztrade, in Dushanbe. The opening ceremony that took place on November 29 was attended by senior representatives of the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies, ambassadors of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, as well as senior representatives of international organizations active in Tajikistan and media, according to the Uzbek Embassy in Dushanbe.
The guest reportedly got acquainted with a broad assortment of goods offered by the mall, ranging from clothes and electric appliances to building materials and food products.
Last year, Uzbekistan opened its shopping mall in the northern city of Khujand, Sughd province.
Recall, a delegation of traders from Uzbekistan that came to Dushanbe in April this year to show off their wares in Tajikistan caused a minor sensation.
The fair that was held in Dushanbe from April 17 to 20 was the first of its kind since independence — a fresh signal of a potential thaw between the neighboring nations that have had a generally frosty relationship since the Soviet collapse in 1991.
The goods on display at the Poytakht-90 trading house ranged from the small — everyday products like candy, fabrics, medicine and footwear — to bigger-ticket items like buses, cars, air conditioners and refrigerators.
The fair served as a showcase for around 160 Uzbek companies. For the first three days of the event, the companies were just displaying the goods, but a frenzy of sales marked the closing day.
Diplomatic relations between the Republic of Tajikistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan were established on October 22, 1992. The Embassy of the Republic of Tajikistan in Tashkent has functioned since 1995.
The legal foundation of bilateral Tajikistan-Uzbekistan relations includes 111 contracts and agreements signed at the interstate, intergovernmental and interdepartmental levels in the period from 1992 to the present.
Signs of a thaw in relations between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan emerged in September last year. In the years since independence, bilateral relations have been plagued by mistrust, disputes over water resources and outright hostility. Both sides have adopted a series of punitive measures against each other. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has expressed interest in “resetting” relations with Tajikistan.
Regular flights between Dushanbe and Tashkent that were suspended in 1992 at Uzbek authorities’ initiative were resumed in April this year.
