Tajik President Emomali Rahmon yesterday left for Azerbaijan on a state visit, according to the Tajik president’s official website.
Presidential adviser for foreign ties, ministers of foreign affairs, economic development and trade, industry and new technologies, internal affairs, and culture, as well as heads of the state committee on investment and state-owned property management, the committee for environmental protect, the committee on family and women’s affairs and some other high-ranking officials are accompanying President Rahmon on his visit to Azerbaijan.
Immediately on arrival in Baku, Tajik leader reportedly visited the Alley of Honors to pay tribute to National Leader Heydar Aliyev, the architect and founder of the independent Azerbaijani state.
Azerbaijan’s state-run news agency Azertag says the official program of the visit is scheduled for today, May 23.
Emomali Rahmon is expected to hold meeting with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev in one-on-one format, which will be followed by negotiations in an expanded format with the participation of delegations of the two countries. The negotiations are expected to result in signing of a numbe r of cooperation documents.
Recall, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev paid a state visit to Tajikistan in early April last year. The visit resulted in signing of fourteen cooperation documents.
According to data from Azerbaijan’s State Customs Committee, the bilateral trade between Azerbaijan and Tajikistan last year valued at little more than 6 million US dollars, while over the first four months this year, the two-way trade between the countries has exceeded 2 million US dollars, which 78 percent more that in the same period last year.
Diplomatic relations between Tajikistan and Azerbaijan were established on May 29, 1992 by the exchange of notes on the establishment of diplomatic relations. Azerbaijan’s Embassy has functioned in Dushanbe since September 22, 2007 and the Embassy of Tajikistan has functioned in Baku since March 23, 2008.
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, relations between Tajikistan with Azerbaijan have been developing in the spirit of mutual respect. Tajikistan and Azerbaijan are partners at the international level in the framework of such organizations such UN, OSCE and CIS.
Currently Tajik-Azerbaijani legal foundation includes more than 40 agreements and treaties, including the Agreement on Friendship and Cooperation between Republic of Tajikistan and the Republic of Azerbaijan dated March 16, 2007.
