DUSHANBE, May 7, 2009, Asia-Plus — On Wednesday May 6, Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi received Mr. Munir Merali, Resident Representative of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) in Tajikistan.
According to the MFA information department, in the course of the talks Zarifi touched upon the issue of implementation programs and projects of AKDN in Tajikistan and pointed out an importance of them for the country during the global financial and economic crisis. He noted that Tajikistan highly appraised activity of AKDN in the different spheres of life of society and hoped for its assistance with efficient implementation of social programs, in particular projects aimed at supporting poor families and vulnerable sections of the population.
For his part, Mr. Merali noted that despite the global crisis AKDN would continue implementation of its health, education and humanitarian projects in Tajikistan. The AKDN resident representative also noted that Tajik government’s resolution permitting transportation of humanitarian cargo via Tajikistan to Afghanistan was a positive initiative meeting “good will of mutually beneficial cooperation,” the MFA information department said.
The two pointed out expansion of bilateral cooperation in sectors like education, and tourism and noted that development of transportation infrastructure was call of the times.
They also discussed the pace of construction of Dushanbe Serena Hotel.
Zarifi also noted during the meeting that in order to achieve energy independence the government of Tajikistan had carried out a number of works and that the issue of rational use of water-and-energy resources of the country was one of priorities of the government’s activity.
The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) is a group of development agencies with mandates ranging from health and education to architecture, culture, microfinance, rural development, disaster reduction, the promotion of private-sector enterprise and the revitalization of historic cities.
