On May 30, the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, with the Prime Minister of the Italian Republic, Ms. Giorgia Meloni, met in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, on the sidelines of the first Central Asia-Italy Summit.
The Tajik president’s official website says the meeting discussed the current state and prospects of relations between the two countries.
Emomali Rahmon reportedly stated that the implementation of the agreements reached in Rome a year ago will be a factor in the further development of relations.
Great attention was paid to strengthening cooperation in areas of interest, including trade and economics, investment, energy, industry, and agriculture.
The use of the opportunities of the mining and processing of minerals, deep processing of cotton and the export of finished products, attraction of investment and import of technology were named among the promising areas.
The expansion of ties in the cultural and humanitarian sectors, healthcare, tourism and sports, education, the allocation of student scholarships for Tajik citizens, as well as the opening of branches of Italian higher education institutions in our country were among the important topics of the conversation.
Great attention was also paid to the development of ties within the framework of international organizations, joint cooperation to solve global problems, including climate change, and issues of ensuring regional and global security.
The Tajik president’s official website notes that at the end of the conversation, Emomali Rahmon invited Ms. Giorgia Meloni to pay an official visit to Tajikistan.
Meanwhile, Italy’s Viory reports that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met Tajik President Emomali Rahmon in Astana on Saturday, aiming to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries.
"I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for participating in this summit […] As you know, Italy was the first country in the EU to propose organizing a permanent format with Central Asian republics. I like to think that we led the way and set a good example," Meloni was cited as saying.
"I also believe this can be a historic moment to further revitalize our cooperation. Our relationship has historically been very strong, but I believe there is an opportunity to do even more. I am particularly keen to encourage stronger economic and trade relations. […] But I believe we can expand our cooperation into new areas," she added.
It reportedly comes after Meloni conducted an official visit to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan for better diplomatic engagement with Central Asia.
The visit coincided with the inaugural 'Italy-Central Asia' summit held in Astana, Kazakhstan, which brought together the leaders of Italy and the five Central Asian republics, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, under the new '1+5' cooperation format.
The summit aimed to strengthen ties between Italy and the region, particularly in areas of mutual strategic interest.
