First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan, Nizomiddin Zohidi, has appreciated Kuwait's contributions to Tajikistan’s policy of opening up to the Arab world.

The State of Kuwait acts as Tajikistan's gateway to the Arab region and its key partner in the Middle East region, Zohidi said in an interview with Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) on April 4 following his two-day official visit to Kuwait.

"Tajikistan's leaders attach significance to the partnership with Kuwait in all fields and seek to open new horizons for the mutually beneficial cooperation," he affirmed.

On his visit to Kuwait, he said he held several meetings with senior officials of the Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs where they discussed ways to cement the already exemplary relations.

"The meetings showed that both Tajikistan and Kuwait held identical views on almost all regional and international issues and share desire to enhance coordination of their stances on issues of common interest at the international forums," he noted.

According to Zohidi, they have reviewed the political, economic and cultural relations with emphasis on ways to promote the economic activities of Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) in Tajikistan.

Regarding the joint investment, he said Tajikistan has many promising opportunities that are open for Kuwaiti investors.

Tajik official noted that Tajikistan is blessed with 60 percent of the freshwater resources of Central Asia.

“These water resources give a huge advantage to Tajikistan in building power generating stations,” he said, affirming that his country has become regional leader in this sector.

“We are planning to build a regional power grid linking Tajikistan, Pakistan and India, which could be very attractive for Kuwaiti investors," he pointed out.

Tajikistan launched four free economic zones that offer preferential treatment to foreign investors, including modern infrastructure and technological facilities, he went on.

Tajikistan targets to increase the volume of foreign investments from USD 2.7 billion per year over the last two and half decades to USD seven billion in the coming two years.

Dealing with the Tajik-Arab ties, he said that Dushanbe hosted the second Arab-Central Asia economic cooperation forum last year, which helped promote economic and investment cooperation between both regions.  

He added that Tajikistan made headway in improving the investment atmospheres through amending the relevant legislations, promoting economic reforms and facilitating the public-private partnerships.