DUSHANBE, January 27, 2009, Asia-Plus — On Monday January 26, President Emomali Rahmon received Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation, Ms. Fayizah Muhammad Abu-al-Naja, according to presidential press service.
Ms. Fayizah Muhammad Abu-al-Naja arrived in Dushanbe Sunday evening heading the Egyptian side of the intergovernmental commission for trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation between Tajikistan and Egypt.
In the course of the talks, the sides discussed issues related to expansion of bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the fields of hydropower engineering, as well as light, food and pharmaceutical industries, mining, finance and banking, agriculture, water supply, education, healthcare, science, culture and tourism as the main means of enhancing relations between Tajikistan and Egypt.
They expressed confidence that the intergovernmental commission for trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation would carry out activities to implement efficiently existing legal framework of Tajikistan and Egypt and discover new ways of using favorable potential of cooperation.
Cooperation in hydropower engineering, in particular construction of hydroelectric power plants on rivers of Tajikistan was considered to be the basic field of economic cooperation between the two countries, which have huge water and energy resources.
The sides decided to declare Norak and Assuan, power engineering cities of Tajikistan and Egypt, as sister cities.
Tajik leader and Egyptian minister also exchanged views on Tajikistan and Egypt’s ranged relations within the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) and a number of regional and international issues being of mutual interest.
Ms. Fayizah Muhammad Abu-al-Naja noted that the leadership and Muslims of Egypt had welcomed the news of declaring the year of 2009 Year of Imam Azam in Tajikistan and stressed that Egyptian cinematographers had shot serial about Abu Hanifa that had been presented to the Tajik leader on behalf of Egyptian President Hosni Mobarak.
Yesterday afternoon, Ms. Fayizah Muhammad Abu-al-Naja also held talks with Chairman of Majlisi Milli (Tajikistan’s upper chamber of parliament) also Dushanbe Mayor Mahmadsaid Ubaidulloyev. During the meeting, they expressed confidence that a session of the Tajik-Egyptian intergovernmental commission in Dushanbe would give impulse to expansion of bilateral economic cooperation between the two countries.
We will recall that the intergovernmental commission for trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation between Tajikistan and Egypt held the session in Dushanbe yesterday. Expansion of economic and trade cooperation between Tajikistan and Egypt was the focus of the meeting that was co-chaired by Ms. Fayizah Muhammad Abu-al-Naja and Tajik Economic Development and Trade Minister Ghulomjon Bobozoda.
According to the State Committee for Statistics, trade between Tajikistan and Egypt valued at 427,900 US dollars. This included only Tajikistan’s imports from Egypt.
