DUSHANBE, July 13, 2011, Asia-Plus  -- Issues related to expansion of cooperation between the Government of Tajikistan and the World Bank were discussed here on July 11 at a meeting of Minister of Finance Safarali Najmiddinov with World Bank mission, led by Mr. Lars Jessen, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) Secretariat reports.

In the course of the talks, the sides reportedly exchanged views on a number of topical issues and problems concerning financial and banking sphere.  They, in particular, discussed prospects of further expansion of bilateral cooperation in different fields as well as Tajikistan’s cooperation with other international financial institutions and banking organizations.

Mr. Jessen noted that the Word Bank planned to continue providing technical assistance to Tajikistan for carrying out reforms on public debt management as well as conduct training and seminars on analyzing the debt situation in the country and drawing up proposals and recommendations on public debt service.

Tajik minister, for his part, noted that assistance provided by the World Bank during the post-crisis period was timely and important and expressed confidence in further expansion of fruitful cooperation between Tajikistan and the World Bank.

The active portfolio of the World Bank in Tajikistan currently consists of 16 projects with net commitment of US$ 223 million.  The largest share of ongoing portfolio is in agriculture and rural development (31 percent), followed by energy (23 percent), water (17 percent), education (15 percent), health (8 percent), and economic policy and public sector (6 percent).