DUSHANBE, February 12, 2013, Asia-Plus  - The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) and the Kazakh-Tajik Direct Investment Fund (KTDIF) have signed a memorandum of understanding and interaction.

The documents was inked here on February 12 by Kanat Dosmukametov, the deputy head of the EDB Board, and Mukan Sagindykov, the head of the KTDIF Board, on sidelines of a roundtable on investment cooperation between Tajikistan and the EDB.

Under the document, the sides reportedly express intention to establish mutually beneficial strategic partnership for the purpose of participating in implementation of efficient investment projects in Tajikistan, promoting enhancement of Tajikistan’s financial infrastructure, deepening of integration processes and expansion of trade and economic cooperation between member nations of the EDB and the KTDIF.

The sides, in particular, expressed interest in joint financing of a large investment project in Khujand, the capital of Sughd province – construction of a cement plant with annual capacity of 500,000 tons of cement.

The KTDIF intends to fund this project through buying shares in the initiator company for up to 8 million USD and the EDB will assess the project for compliance with the Bank’s mission and “strategic tasks.

“A joint implementation of the project will allow satisfying Tajikistan’s demand for high-quality Portland cement,” Dosmukametov said during the document-signing ceremony.

If the EDB makes decision to participate in the project, it may invest 48 million USD in construction of this cement plant, he added.