DUSHANBE
, July 25, Asia-Plus — Arrangements for upcoming visits of Iranian and Afghan presidents to
Tajikistan
were discussed at a working meeting presided over by President Rahmonov on July 24. Senior representatives from president’s office, as well as head of ministries and organizations attended this meeting.
According to presidential press service, the meeting also considered issues related to the holding of Tajik agricultural exhibition in the
Russian Federation
.
According to information from the Tajik MFA, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is arriving in
Dushanbe
today afternoon.
High-ranking Iranian officials including Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, Energy Minister Parviz Fattah, Roads and Transport Minister Mohammad Rahmati, Commerce Minister Parviz Mir-Kazemi, Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh and Press Advisor Ali-Akbar Javanfekr are accompanying President Ahmadinejad on this trip.
Today evening, Tajik and Iranian delegations will conduct negotiations in narrow and enlarged formats. The negotiations are supposed to focus on the construction of power-transmission line from
Tajikistan
to
Iran
via
Afghanistan
, a progress of the implementation of the Sangtuda-2 project in
Tajikistan
, as well as transportation communications and regional cooperation. The negotiations are supposed to end with signing of a number of documents on bilateral cooperation in the area of energy, transportation, etc.
Following the negotiations, President Ahmadinejad is supposed to meet with representatives from Tajik intelligentsia.
On July 26, Emomali Rahmonov and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will take part in an inauguration of the Anzob tunnel.
On the same day Ahmadinejad will meet with Iranians living in
Dushanbe
and take part in an official ceremony of opening of the Tajik-Iranian joint venture “TajIran” on assembling Iranian tractors in
Dushanbe
.
This joint venture has been launched by Tajik company “Humo” and the tractor-producing plant based in the Iranian city of
Tabriz
.
Tajikistan
owns 51 percent of the shares and the Iranian side assumes the 49% ownership interest in this enterprise. The rate capacity of this joint venture is assembling 500 tractors a year. The enterprise will assembly three types of Iranian tractors: “285”; “399”; and “930”. Tractors assembled in
Dushanbe
are supposed to be exported to
Afghanistan
and
Kyrgyzstan
.
After that, the Iranian president will attend joint conference of Iranian and Tajik businessmen and traders.
The Afghan leader Hamid Karzai is also arriving in
Dushanbe
on July 26. On the same day, a tripartite meeting of Rahmonov, Ahmadinejad and Karzai will be held. The meeting will be followed by a tripartite conference of
Tajikistan
,
Iran
and
Afghanistan
in an enlarged format. The tripartite conference is aiming to consider common strategies for joint cooperation in the fields of energy, transportation and culture. Participants at the conference also will discuss major regional issues including the war against terror and anti-drug campaign. The tripartite meeting in
Dushanbe
is supposed to result in signing of a joint document.
After that, Rahmonov and Karzai will hold a bilateral meeting to discuss further expansion of cooperation between
Tajikistan
and
Afghanistan
. The two also will exchange views on the results of the tripartite meeting. An enlarged meeting of delegations of
Tajikistan
and
Afghanistan
will be held on July 27.
