DUSHANBE, May 19, 2010, Asia-Plus /Rasoul Shodon/ — President Emomali Rahmon yesterday held meetings with Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and the Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul. The meetings focused on Tajikistan’s bilateral cooperation with Iran and Afghanistan.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting with President Rahmon, Manouchehr Mottaki said that they had discussed implementation of Iran-sponsored projects in Tajikistan. We have agreed to speed up the implementation of this projects.,” said the Iranian foreign minister, “Besides, Iran plans to increase a two-way trade with Tajikistan.”
He said that he had congratulated President Rahmon on hosting for the first ever in Central Asia the meeting of foreign ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). “It indicates the important role that Tajikistan and the Central Asian region as a whole, as major part of the world of Islam, can play in upgrading cooperation among Muslim states,” he added.
In the meantime, Iran’s news agency reports that speaking to reporters, Mottaki said he had briefed his host on problems Iranian companies have with regards to transportation of materials, including cement, through countries to Tajikistan and the ways to solve the problems. Mottaki said Tajik president vowed to take measures to remove the problems as best as he could so that Iranians will have growing presence in the Tajik market. He stressed, “The projects Iranian companies implement in Tajikistan serve public needs and interests based on demand by government of the republic.”
Dr. Zalmai Rassoul, for his part, noted that he and President Rahmon had discussed state and prospects of further expansion of bilateral cooperation between Afghanistan and Tajikistan, particularly in the energy sector and the social sphere.
On the OIC foreign ministers’ meeting, the Afghan foreign minister noted that the meeting gave an opportunity to thoroughly discuss threats posed by terrorism and drug trafficking and Muslim countries could assist in addressing those threats.
He added that expansion of economic cooperation among Muslim states would be of benefit to all the OIC member nations.
