QURGHON TEPPA, July 7, 2011, Asia-Plus -- Authorities of Tajikistan’s Khatlon province and Russia’s Novosibirsk oblast have signed a memorandum of cooperation.

Davlatkhouja Mirzoyev, head of the Khatlon department for foreign economic relations, says Khatlon delegation met with high-ranking Novosibirsk officials last month.  “Negotiations resulted in preparation of a draft memorandum of cooperation between Khatlon Province and Novosibirsk Oblast,” he noted.

According to Mirzoyev, the regions are expected to boost bilateral cooperation in sectors like agriculture, education, etc.  The Tajik side proposed to launch joint ventures for processing fruits and vegetables in Khatlon province.

“We also asked the Novosibirsk side to allocate a forest block to us for launching joint lumber-processing enterprise,” said Mirzoyev, “If they support our proposal, we could recruit Tajik migrants working in Novosibirsk region, launch joint venture and send our output to Tajikistan.”