After the official meeting ceremony at the Palace of the Nation, top-level talks between Tajikistan and Belarus were held yesterday within the framework of the official visit of Belarusian President to Tajikistan.

The Tajik president’s official website says Tajik President Emomali Rahmon warmly and sincerely welcomed his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko for his visit to Tajikistan.

During the talks, the heads of the two countries reportedly discussed the state and prospects of further expansion of the bilateral cooperation between their countries.

Rahmon and Lukashenko also exchanged views on a number of regional and international issues being of mutual interest.  

Rahmon, in particular, noted that high-level meetings and regular and successful relations at the government level, based on high trust and mutual support, are an important and positive factor in shaping relations between the two countries.

At the top-level meeting with the participation of official delegations of the two countries, the parties expressed satisfaction with the rapid development of interstate cooperation in the political, economic, scientific, technical, cultural, humanitarian and other fields.

In order to further strengthen bilateral relations, the heads of state proposed to revive and intensify the activities of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission of Tajikistan and Belarus for Trade and Economic Cooperation and launch the activities of a joint working group on the development of investment cooperation.

For the development of trade and economic cooperation, it was considered necessary to create joint ventures in the areas of mining, metallurgical, construction, light and food industries, and in the direction of agriculture and logistics, which present large resources.

The parties reportedly expressed interest in increasing the volume of exports of fruits and vegetables to the Belarusian market, as well as in establishing joint ventures in the field of processing agricultural products.

Promising areas of bilateral relations were the implementation of projects for the production of dairy products, strengthening cooperation in the direction of providing the Belarusian market with cotton fiber and other industrial cotton processing products, and the creation of a Tajik-Belarusian enterprise for the production of carpets.

During the top-level talks, the parties also expressed their desire to expand bilateral cooperation in priority cultural and humanitarian areas, science and education, in the direction of relations between higher educational institutions, the training of highly qualified specialists and the holding of days of culture in each other's countries.

At the meeting the parties also discussed cooperation relations between countries within the framework of influential regional and international organizations such as the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Collective Security Treaty Organization.

It was emphasized that, taking into account the decision to start the procedure for the admission of the Republic of Belarus to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the interaction between the countries within the framework of this organization will acquire new content.

In connection with ensuring security and stability in countries and the region, a sharp increase in the threats of terrorism, extremism, drug trafficking, cybercrime and other forms of transnational organized crime, as well as the political situation in Afghanistan, effective bilateral and multilateral cooperation between the two countries was called the need of the time.