DUSHANBE, June 25, 2012, Asia-Plus — Issues related to further expansion of bilateral economic cooperation between Tajikistan and Turkey were the focus of a meeting of Mr. Sharif Said, Chairman of Tajikistan’s Chamber Commerce and Industry (CCI) with Mr. Fateh Yilmaz, Program Coordinator, the Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA) that took place here on June 23.
An official source at the Ministry of Energy and Industries (MoEI) says the two discussed the process of implementation of TIKA-sponsored projects in Tajikistan and prospects of bilateral economic cooperation between the two countries.
Said and Yilmaz reportedly also considered opportunities of training of personnel for Tajikistan’s economy, especially tourism industry, in Turkey.
“In Tajikistan, TIKA is mainly engaged in providing technical assistance,” the source said, noting that to-date Turkey has provided more than 7 million U.S. dollars worth of technical assistance to Tajikistan through TIKA.
Established in January 1992, the Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency is reportedly a government department of the Prime Ministry of Turkey. TIKA is responsible for organization of the bulk of Turkey”s official development assistance to developing countries.
Meanwhile, according to data from the Agency for Statistics under the President of Tajikistan, a two-way trade between Tajikistan and Turkey in January-May this year has valued at 255 million U.S. dollars. This consisted of Tajikistan’s exports to Turkey estimated at more than 218.1 million U.S. dollars and Tajikistan’s imports from Turkey worth 36.9 million U.S. dollars.
