DUSHANBE, August 24, Asia-Plus — Afghan President Hamid Karzai is arriving in Tajikistan on August 25 for a two-day working visit, Tajik MFA said.
The source at a MFA said that on August 26, Hamid Karzai and his Tajik counterpart, President Emomali Rahmon will attend a ceremony of inauguration of a bridge across the Panj River in the Qumsangir district, Khatlon province.
The United States, which supplied most of the funding and know-how for the project, hopes the bridge will consolidate permanent overland links between Tajikistan and Afghanistan, enhancing economic and commercial opportunities for both sides of the river and allowing goods and people to move across more easily.
An article “Bridge Connecting Tajikistan and Afghanistan Set to Open” by David Trilling, posted on the Eurasianet website, said the $37-million span, construction of which began almost two years ago, stands to especially benefit Tajikistan, where external trade has suffered from a lack of efficient and reliable overland trade routes.
Built to withstand earthquakes and the Panj River’s swift currents, the bridge contains 13,000 cubic meters of concrete procured from Tajikistan, as well as steal from Russia and Germany, said Brian Walls, a civilian who is overseeing the project on behalf of the US Army Corps of Engineers, according to the article.
More than 600 local workers helped build the bridge, with Afghans now helping their Tajik counterparts complete the necessary customs infrastructure.
The length of the bridge across the Panj River is 672 meters, and the width is 11.6 meters. The bridge is expected to transport more than 1,000 cars daily.
It is supposed that the bridge will link Afghanistan not only to Tajikistan bur also to other Central Asian states and Russia.
During his stay in Tajikistan, Afghan president is also scheduled to hold talks wit President Rahmon to discuss the present state and prospects of further expansion of bilateral cooperation between Afghanistan and Tajikistan in the fields of security, border protection, economics, commerce, science and culture.
