DUSHANBE, August 14, Asia-Plus -- Ongoing official two-day visit of President Emomali Rahmon to Azerbaijan has resulted in signing of nine bilateral cooperation documents. 

Abdufattoh Sharifzoda, a spokesman for the president, reported from Baku that an August 13 private meeting of President Rahmon with his Azeri counterpart, President Ilham Aliyev, focused on issues related to state and prospects of further expansion of bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Azerbaijan. 

During the meeting the sides outlined sectors like energy, industry, transport and communications, production and processing of cotton and other farm products, tourism, production of natural gas, oil, and precious stones and metals as areas of which could drive the bilateral trade between the two countries.  The sides also discussed issues related to scientific and technical cooperation between the two countries as well as regional and international problems being of mutual interest.  

   Both sides vowed to intensify work of the intergovernmental commission for economic and trade cooperation.  

Negotiations between the governments of Tajikistan and Azerbaijan that were conducted after the private meeting of Rahmon and Aliyev resulted in signing of nine bilateral cooperation documents, the spokesman said. 

The signed documents included a joint Tajik-Azeri declaration, government-to-government agreements on cooperation in the fields of communications, education, free trade, science, avoiding double taxation and preventing tax payment evasion.  Tajikistan and Azerbaijan also signed agreements on cooperation between the justice ministries and the committees for statistics of the two countries.  Besides, Tajik aluminum company TALCO and Azeri aluminum company DETAL METAL DNCC signed a cooperation agreement as well.  

After a ceremony of signing of the documents, the presidents gave a news conference.