DUSHANBE, November 11, 2012, Asia-Plus – Tajik Foreign minister Hamrokhon Zarifi met with his Kyrgyz counterpart Erlan Abdyldayev in Tokyo on November 9.
According to the Tajik MFA information department, the two discussed state and prospects of further expansion of bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Construction of infrastructure facilities, power transmission lines as well as border cooperation and consular issues were among major topics of the meeting.
Kyrgyz foreign minister invited Zarifi to attend a meeting of Central Asian foreign ministers and representatives of the European Union that twill take place in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan in late November, the source said.
We will recall that Tajik Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi was in Tokyo to attend the next Foreign Ministers’ Meeting of the “Central Asia plus Japan” Dialogue that took place there on November 10.
AFP (French news agency) reports that Japan pledged to launch projects worth $700 million in Central Asia to help the resource-rich region promote trade, energy-saving and regional cooperation in stabilizing nearby Afghanistan.
The commitment reportedly followed the meeting in Tokyo on Saturday between foreign ministers from Japan and five Central Asian nations — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
“We had frank discussions to help build a stronger, richer and more open Central Asia,” Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba told reporters after the meeting, the fourth edition of the “Central Asia plus Japan” Dialogue, which started in Kazakhstan in 2004.
According to a joint statement, the projects will cover five areas — trade investment, environment and energy-saving, narrowing the wealth gap, regional cooperation in stabilizing Afghanistan and cooperation in disaster prevention.
“Promoting cooperation between Japan and Central Asia will contribute to help sustain peace and stability in Afghanistan and resolve problems in the international community,” said Gemba in an opening speech at the meeting.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda told the visiting ministers on November 9: “I place importance on Central Asia which is placed in a geopolitically important position and rich in resources and energy.”
Tokyo wants Japanese firms to play a greater role in the mineral business in the region, which has ample reserves of crude oil, natural gas, uranium and other natural resources, media reports said.
