DUSHANBE, January 3, 2009, Asia-Plus — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is due to pay an official visit to Tajikistan on January 4-5 but not January 6-7 as it had been previously informed, according to the Tajik MFA information department.
During his two-day stay, President Ahmadinejad is scheduled to hold talks with President and then negotiations with participation of the government delegations of the two countries will take place.
Expansion of bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Iran in sectors like energy, agriculture and communications will be a major topic of the negotiations that are expected to result in signing of a number of cooperation documents, the source said.
A two-way trade between Tajikistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran was estimated at 200 million U.S. dollars in 2009.
Iran is currently involved in implementation of several infrastructural projects in Tajikistan and exports building materials, foodstuffs, electricity equipment, household appliances and agricultural products, to Tajikistan.
In the meantime, Tajik Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi told Iran’s Fars News Agency (FNA) on Saturday January 2 that Tajikistan attaches significant importance to all-out cooperation with Iran. “Cooperation with Iran is important for Tajikistan in all fields but regarding the current situation, economic relations set a priority,” Zarifi told FNA.
According to him, the relations between Iran and Tajikistan entered a new level after Iran began economic activities in the country in 2002.
Referring to the cultural, civilization and lingual commonalities between Tehran and Dushanbe, Zarifi reiterated that the two countries are also faced with common challenges and threats, including drug trafficking, terrorism and extremism.
He also pointed to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad”s upcoming visit to Tajikistan, and expressed the hope that the visit would serve as a milestone in the friendly and brotherly relations between the two countries.
