DUSHANBE, August 25, 2008, Asia-Plus — State and prospects of further expansion of bilateral economic cooperation between Tajikistan and China will be discussed at a meeting of President Emomali Rahmon with visiting President of the Export-Import Bank (Eximbank) of China, Mr. Li Ruogu, which will be held in Dushanbe today at 3:00 p.m., according to presidential press service.
The two are supposed to consider issues related to a progress of implementation of China-sponsored projects in Tajikistan, in particular the projects for construction of the power grid South-North and rehabilitation of the highway Dushanbe-Khujand-Chanak (Uzbekistan).
It is to be noted that, China’s President Hu Jintao is scheduled to arrive in Dushanbe tomorrow evening for a state visit. On August 27, Mr. Hu will hold talks with President Rahmon. Their talks will be followed by negotiations in an enlarged format with participations of the delegations of the two countries. The negotiations are expected to result in signing of a number of cooperation documents.
During his stay in Dushanbe, the Chinese president is also scheduled to hold talks with Prime Minister Oqil Oqilov and chairmen of both chambers of Tajik parliament. On August 28, he will attend a summit of heads of state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
Established in 1994 and solely owned by the central government, the Eximbank is a government policy bank under the direct leadership of the State Council. Its international credit ratings are compatible to the national sovereign ratings. At present, the Bank has over ten business branches and domestic representative offices, as well as three overseas representative offices in Johannesburg, Paris and St. Petersburg. It has established and maintained correspondent relationship with more than 300 overseas banks worldwide.
