Majlisi Milli (Tajikistan’s upper chamber of parliament) Speaker Rustam Emomali,  who is also Mayor of Dushanbe, today met in Almaty, Kazakhstan with the Chair and the member of the Senate of Kazakhstan Maulen Ashimbayev, according to the Dushanbe mayor’s office.

The parties reportedly discussed state and prospects of further expansion of bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Kazakhstan, including inter-parliamentary cooperation between the two countries.

Emomali and Ashimbayev also exchanged views on cultural, humanitarian and economic cooperation between Tajikistan and Kazakhstan. 

In this context, the parties, reportedly hailed the current level of trade cooperation between the two countries.

In 2021, the two-way trade between Tajikistan and Kazakhstan valued at 1.2 billion U.S. dollars, which is 30 percent more than in 2020.  

Both parliament speakers vowed to contribute to further expansion of fruitful cooperation between the two countries and outlined sectors like hydropower, transport, communications and tourism as areas that could drive the bilateral trade between Tajikistan and Kazakhstan. 

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the 30th anniversary session of the Inter-parliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States (IPA CIS) that kicked off in Almaty today.

The IPA CIS is a parliamentary assembly for delegations from the national parliaments of the member countries of the CIS.  The IPA CIS was established on March 27, 1992 in Almaty (Kazakhstan) under the terms of the Agreement signed by Heads of founding parliaments. On May 26, 1995, CIS leaders signed the Convention on the Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States] eventually ratified by nine CIS parliaments.  The overarching mission is law-making and alignment of national laws in the CIS. The IPA is housed in the Tauride Palace in a historical landmark of Saint Petersburg.

The IPA CIS acts as the consultative parliamentary body of the CIS established to discuss problems of parliamentary cooperation.  Its activity concentrates on the development of the model legislation, which could then be implemented by the Member States on the voluntary basis, and serve as a tool of dissemination of the best practices across the CIS.  The Assembly is involved in the development of integration processes in the CIS.  The IPA CIS regularly hosts specialized conferences, seminars and symposiums, which provide a platform for debate of the governmental and non-governmental actors.  Another mission of the IPA CIS is election monitoring.