Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s state visit to Tajikistan, which is set for March 9-10, is expected to result in signing of 27cooperation agreements

While in Dushanbe, Mirziyoyev will hold talks with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Prime Minister Qohir Rasoulzoda and Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament) Speaker Shukurjon Zuhurov.   

On March 9, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and his Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoyev will hold tete-a-tete talks.

After the meeting of the leaders of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in a one-on-one format, the talks will continue in an expanded format, with the participation of the members of the official delegations of the two countries.

The negotiations are expected to result in signing of twenty-seven new cooperation documents.

The most important of them will be agreements on visa-free travel between the two countries and delineation of disputable stretches of the mutual border.  

The new border regulations will allow Tajik and Uzbek citizens to visit each others’ countries without visas for up to 30 days.  They will also provide for the building of new checkpoints along the border and the opening of several bus links to connect the two nations' towns and cities.

Under the agreement regarding the disputed dam of the Soviet-era Farhod hydropower station along the border, the land on which the station stands will be Tajik property, while the station itself -- including its equipment and infrastructure -- will be owned by Uzbekistan.

The two sides will also sign an agreement on providing $100 million preferential loan to Tajikistan.

Dushanbe and Tashkent are also expected to sign cooperation agreements in the fields of transportation and energy. 

After that, Rahmon and Mirziyoyev will make statements for the press.      

On the same day, the leaders of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan will attend the Tajik-Uzbek economic forum that will take place at the Istiqlol Palace in Dushanbe and will attend a ceremony of inauguration of an exhibition of Uzbek industrial goods that will be held at the Manege Sports Complex. 

The forum and the exhibition are expected to end with signing of a number of contracts worth more than 140 million U.S. dollars.    

On March 10, Shavkat Mirziyoyev will hold meetings with Tajik Prime Minister Qohir Rasoulzoda and Majlisi Namoyandagon speaker Shukurjon Zuhurov in his temporary residence in Dushanbe.

Uzbek president will leave Dushanbe for Tashkent in the evening of March 10.  

According to data of the State Committee for Statistics, a two-way trade between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan last year valued at US$126 million.  This consisted of Tajikistan’s exports to Uzbekistan estimated at US$57 million and Tajikistan’s imports from Uzbekistan worth US$69 million. 

There are high hopes for Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s upcoming state visit to Tajikistan.

In a little more than a year in office, Mirziyoyev has reportedly made strides to repair the country’s relations with its neighbors, making three visits to Turkmenistan, four to Kazakhstan and one to Kyrgyzstan.

Experts note that like Mirziyoyev’s visit to Kyrgyzstan last September, the trip to Tajikistan holds historic significance.

Relations between the countries have become warmer after Shavkat Mirziyoyev came to power in Uzbekistan in 2016.  Mirziyoyev has said that improving ties with Central Asian nations is a major priority of Uzbekistan’s foreign policy.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev told lawmakers in the Tashkent region on January 6 that important bilateral agreements would be signed during his visit to Tajikistan.  “We will sign many agreements on cooperation in the railway and energy spheres.  We will also be considering many other issues,” he said.