Turkmenistan, Tajikistan Sign Bilateral Documents in Dushanbe Summit

Ashgabat, 5 October 2007 (nCa) --- In the first ever visit of a Turkmen president to Tajikistan, Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov and Imamali Rakhmon signed Thursday ten documents including the treaty of friendship and cooperation.

The other documents include:

-         Intergovernmental agreement on basic principles and directions of trade-economic relations and cooperation

-         Intergovernmental agreements in the fields of art and culture

-         Intergovernmental agreement in the field of education

-         Intergovernmental agreement on encouragement and protection of investments

-         Agreement between the ministry of agriculture of Turkmenistan and ministry of agriculture and nature protection of Tajikistan about cooperation in the field of agro-industrial complex

Before the signing ceremony, President Berdymuhamedov and President Rakhmon had tête-à-tête and expanded talks.

Berdymuhamedov said that power generation and transportation, communication and transportation, textile industry and agriculture were priority areas for bilateral cooperation.

He said that Turkmenistan would continue supply of electricity and petroleum products to help strength the Tajik economy.

He added that Turkmenistan was interested in metal products from Tajikistan, especially aluminum.

Recalling the fact that Turkmenistan has granted citizenship to more than 10000 refugees from Tajikistan, Berdymuhamedov said that brotherly relations between the two countries were based on a wide range of commonalities.

Rakhmov reciprocated the sentiment and said that the neutrality of Turkmenistan was an important factor for stability in the region. He said that he would visit Ashgabat for the opening ceremony of the UN regional centre for preventive diplomacy.

The Tajik president said that he would welcome the help of Turkmen specialists for development of the oil and gas sector of Tajikistan.

Going a step further, Rakhmon said that he would appreciate Turkmen participation in any project in Tajikistan.

“There are no political disagreements among us. On all the questions discussed today, our positions are close or identical, which is excellent base for close interaction,” said Rakhmov. We shall jointly fight terrorism, extremism and narcotics, he underlined.

Both the leaders addressed a short press conference after the ceremony of signing bilateral documents.

On Friday, Berdymuhamedov will visit the aluminum factory in Tajikistan and participate in the CIS summit.

The cooperation between Turkmenistan and Tajikistan is based on 22 international, interstate, intergovernmental and interdepartmental documents. Trade turnover between the two countries was US $ 27.4 million during the first 8 months of this year.

Tajikistan buys electricity, petroleum products, agriculture and chemical items from Turkmenistan. Exports of Tajikistan to Turkmenistan include metal products, especially aluminum, and other items.

Tajikistan doesn’t have any big presence in Turkmenistan. In addition to the embassy of Tajikistan, the Tajik company Oil Trading Sandal and a branch of the research and information center of the Intergovernmental Sustainable Development Commission of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea are working in Turkmenistan.

Under a three-year agreement signed this year, Turkmenistan is supplying one billion kilowatt hours of electricity to Tajikistan annually. However, the remarks of Rakhmon on Thursday suggested that the agreement has been extended to five years.