Tajik President Emomali Rahmon yesterday received Dr. Nizar Bin Obaid Madani, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia.
According to the Tajik president’s official website, the two sides expressed satisfaction with the current level of cooperation between Tajikistan and Saudi Arabia and pointed to the necessity of expanding the role of the Intergovernmental Commission for Trade and Economic Cooperation.
Rahmon and Madani, in particular, noted that Tajikistan and Saudi Arabia have opportunities to expand their bilateral cooperation in the fields of trade, investment, agriculture, transportation and jointly implement regional projects.
In the course of the talks, President Rahmon appreciated support provided by the Saudi National Development Fund established by King Salman for implementation of transportation development and embankment enforcement projects in Tajikistan.
The two sides also discussed a number of regional and international issues being of mutual interests.
Dr. Nizar Bin Obaid Madani joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia as an attaché in 1965 where he then proceeded to the Saudi embassy in Washington in 1968, eventually taking the position of Chargé d'affaires. In 1967, he was appointed director of media affairs. Then he was posted to take charge of international affairs in 1978, and then progressed to become assist manager, office of minister of foreign affairs in 1984. He also participated in several international conferences at the United Nations and in the Arab League. He was appointed in 1993 as a member of the Consultative Council in its first session, and he was then reappointed in 1997. Later, he became assistant foreign minister. He was appointed minister of state for foreign affairs on 29 August 2005.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a special position in the Tajik foreign policy in the Arab World. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia recognized the independence of the Republic of Tajikistan on January 11, 1992 and diplomatic relations between two countries were established on February 22, 1992. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the first Arab country that opened its diplomatic mission in Tajikistan on January 2010 as a follow up to the Tajik Embassy inauguration in Saudi Arabia in 2008.
