President Rahmon's Official Visit to Astana, 5–7 November 2026

Overview

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon paid an official visit to Kazakhstan on 5–7 November 2026 at the invitation of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. The visit was announced as a bilateral programme in its own right and coincided with the Aqaba Process summit that Kazakhstan co-hosted with Jordan in Astana on 6 November, which Rahmon also attended.

The two events ran in parallel but were distinct: the bilateral agenda covered trade, energy, security and humanitarian cooperation, while the summit addressed security in the field of artificial intelligence.

The visit built on the Treaty on Allied Relations, signed in Dushanbe in August 2024 and ratified by Tokayev in May 2026. It produced a joint statement, 14 intergovernmental and interagency documents, and a roadmap for expanding bilateral trade through 2030.

5 November: arrival and business forum

Rahmon arrived in Astana on 5 November. A Kazakh–Tajik business forum was held in the capital the same day, ahead of the official programme, and produced 11 commercial agreements worth a combined $135.3 million. Discussions covered trade, industry, agriculture, the digital economy, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and renewable energy.

On the margins of the forum, Kazakhstan’s QazTrade estimated additional export potential to Tajikistan at $208 million across 90 product lines. Figures cited at the event put the number of enterprises with Tajik participation in Kazakhstan at more than 580, and of companies with Kazakh capital registered in Tajikistan at more than 130.

6 November: Aqaba Process summit

On 6 November, President Tokayev and King Abdullah II of Jordan co-chaired an Aqaba Process summit in Astana on “Security in the Field of Artificial Intelligence”. Tokayev described it as the first meeting in this format to be held in Central Asia. The Aqaba Process is a counter-terrorism and counter-extremism initiative launched by King Abdullah II in 2015.

The presidents of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan attended, alongside senior representatives of Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan. The agenda centred on countering the use of artificial intelligence by terrorist and extremist groups, including for recruitment and propaganda, and on practical cooperation in response to emerging digital threats. Tokayev and King Abdullah II had held bilateral talks the previous day.

7 November: talks and documents

The official programme took place on 7 November. After a welcoming ceremony at the Akorda, Tokayev and Rahmon held talks on trade and economic ties, transport and logistics, energy, agriculture, water resources, industry and digitalisation. The presidents adopted a joint statement setting priorities for further cooperation, and delegations exchanged 14 documents.

Area	Document
Security	Agreement on training personnel for the Border Troops of Tajikistan’s State Committee for National Security
Energy	Agreement on cooperation in the electric power sector
Energy	Framework agreement on petroleum product supplies (energy ministries)
Mining	Agreement on long-term cooperation in mining and metallurgy projects
Trade	Roadmap to increase bilateral trade through 2030
Agriculture	Roadmap for agricultural cooperation, 2027–2028
Industry	Action plan for 2027 implementing the industry cooperation memorandum
Health	Agreement on cooperation in health care
Social	Agreement on information cooperation in pension provision
Digital	Memorandum on cooperation in artificial intelligence
Digital	Memorandum on developing e-commerce
Governance	Memorandum between the Prosecutors General’s offices
Governance	Memorandum between Kazakhstan’s civil service agency and Tajikistan’s state financial control and anti-corruption agency
Media	Memorandum between the Kazakh President’s Teleradio Complex and Tajikistan’s Committee for Television and Radio

Embassy complex and state award

Tokayev and Rahmon jointly opened the new Embassy of Tajikistan complex in Astana, on Anatoly Khrapaty Street. They cut the ribbon, toured the compound and planted trees in the grounds. The complex gives Dushanbe a larger permanent diplomatic presence in the Kazakh capital.

Tokayev also conferred the Qoja Ahmet Yasaui order on Rahmon. The award is new: it was introduced in 2026 and first presented to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in May. Tokayev cited Rahmon’s contribution to strengthening peace in Central Asia and the allied relationship between the two countries.

Trade and outlook

Bilateral trade reached about $1.13 billion in January–September 2026, almost 26 percent above the same period of 2025, according to figures Rahmon cited. The rise follows a dip: trade fell 7.9 percent in 2025, to $1.19 billion from $1.29 billion in 2024. Tokayev said turnover is “confidently approaching” $2 billion, and the new roadmap is reported to target that level by 2030.

The petroleum framework agreement opens a formal channel for Kazakh fuel suppliers into the Tajik market. The published list gives the agreement’s title but not volumes or prices, and The Diplomat notes that Kazakhstan’s fuel deliveries this year show limits on what it can supply.

Most of the 7 November outputs are frameworks, roadmaps and memorandums, so their effect will depend on implementation. Rahmon himself stressed the need for consistent follow-through on agreements reached at the highest level. /// nCa, 11 November 2026

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