DUSHANBE, November 23, 2012, Asia-Plus  - Dushanbe Mayor Mahmadsaid Ubaidulloyev yesterday met here with Mr. Didier Leroy, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France to Tajikistan.

Shavkat Saidov, a spokesman for the Dushanbe mayor’s office, says the sides discussed issues related to construction of a new building for France’s Embassy in Dushanbe, participation of French companies in financing of a number of projects in the Tajik capital as well as launch of joint small joint ventures in Dushanbe.

The sides reportedly agreed that French companies could participate in international tenders conducted by the Dushanbe mayor’s office.  An agreement was reached on holding a forum of Tajik and French entrepreneurs in Dushanbe in the near future.

The sides expressed readiness to study the issue of signing of a sister city agreement between Dushanbe and Paris, Saidov said.

We will recall that current sister cities of Dushanbe are Lusaka, Zambia (1966);  Sana''a, Yemen (June 25, 1967); Monastir, Tunisia (November 24, 1967); Klagenfurt,  Austria (1972); Lahore, Pakistan (September 15, 1976);  Boulder, USA (May 8, 1987); Mazar-i Sahrif, Afghanistan (July 13, 1991); Reutlingen, Germany (October 5, 1991); St. Petersburg, Russia (October 6, 1991); Shiraz, Iran (February 16, 1992); Minsk, Belarus (July 21, 1998); Urumqi, China (September 10, 1999); Tehran, Iran (March 12, 2001); and Ankara, Turkey (December 11, 2003).