On Thursday April 18, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon met here with his Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who arrived in Dushanbe yesterday on a two-day state visit. 

The Tajik president’s official website says the two leaders held a tete-a-tete meeting to review issues of friendship and cooperation between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.  They, in particular, discussed issues related to further expansion of bilateral cooperation between their countries in various areas.   

The Tajik leader emphasized that the neighboring Uzbekistan is a strategic partner and reliable ally of Tajikistan, and relations with it are based on the solid principles of friendship, good neighborliness and respect for mutual interests.

The meeting was reportedly followed by negotiations with the participation of expanded delegations from both sides.

During the negotiations, the parties reportedly outlined sectors like transport, energy and agriculture as important areas of relations between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The deputy prime ministers of both countries reported on the current state of cooperation in these sectors.

After the reports of government officials of both countries, other issues of interest to the parties were considered, according to the Tajik president’s official website.

The role of the Joint Commission for Trade and Economic Cooperation in deepening the relations between the two countries was deemed significant.

It was noted that cooperation in the fields of digital economy, technological research, e-commerce and modern industrial services are new and promising areas of collaboration. 

The expansion of cooperation in the joint construction of wind and solar power plants was named as one of the most profitable areas of future relations between the two countries.

Besides, issues related to the strengthening of ties in the field of transport, cargo, establishment of new routes between the regions of the two countries and continuation of efforts to build railways were also discussed during the negotiations.

In the process of development of relations, cooperation between regions, expansion of cultural and humanitarian bonds, allocation of quotas for citizens of the two countries and joint printing of textbooks were considered important.

It was stressed that Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have the opportunity to increase the turnover of goods to 2 billion US dollars.

The sides also touched upon the issues of ensuring security in the region, strengthening the activities of related structures in the fight against terrorism, extremism, separatism, organized transnational crimes, as well as drug trafficking and cybercrimes.