Tajik Deputy Prime Minister, Mahmadtoir Zokirzoda and Uzbek Vice-Premier, Zoyir Mirzoyev, have met in the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat, to discuss cooperation.

According to the Tajik MFA information department, the meeting took place on January 29 on the sidelines of a meeting of the Executive Board of the International Foundation for Aral Sea (IFAS).

The two reportedly discussed state and prospects of further expansion of bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in the agricultural sphere, including plant breeding, poultry farming and livestock breeding.  

Meanwhile, the IFAS Executive Board will discuss issues related to the current situation in the Aral Sea basin and measures to improve ecological and socioeconomic situation as well as living conditions in the Aral Sea region.  

The International Foundation for Aral Sea was established in 1993.  In January 1994, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan signed a deal to pledge 1% of their budgets to help the sea recover.