DUSHANBE, December 7, Asia-Plus  -- Five bilateral documents regulating further cooperation between Tajikistan and Turkmenistan are expected to be signed during President Rahmon’s visit to Turkmenistan, which is scheduled fro December 9-10, the information department of Tajik MFA said. 

The documents include three government-to-government agreements on mutual protection of secret information, aerial communication, and international automotive transport communication, as well as convention on avoiding double taxation and mutual protection of investments.    

Besides, President Emomali Rahmon and his Turkmen counterpart, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, will ink a joint Tajik-Turkmen communiqué.  

A Tajik working group is currently in Ashgabat to work with Turkmen colleagues on preparation of the mentioned documents for signing.

The source at the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC) said the agreement on the international automotive transport communication aims to ease and simplify a procedure of transportation and introduction of licensing forms system.

According to him, Tajikistan is elaborating similar draft agreements on international automotive transport communication with other countries as well.  The daft agreement on automotive transport communication with Uzbekistan has already been submitted for consideration to Uzbek authorities.     

As far as aerial communication between Tajikistan and Turkmenistan is concerned, the aerial communication between Dushanbe and Ashgabat functioned from 1993 to 1997.  In 1997, the aerial communication between the two countries was cut off because of low passenger traffic and introduction by Turkmenistan of visa regime for citizens of the CIS states, the source said.   

During his stay in Ashgabat President Rahmon will also attend an official opening of the Center for Preventive Diplomacy.  

We will recall that Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov paid an official visit to Tajikistan in early October this year.  Rahmon and Berdymukhammedov that time endorsed a new five-year agreement reached in talks between the energy ministers of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan on the supply and transit of Turkmen electricity through Uzbekistan to Tajikistan during winter months.

Turkmen president’s visit to Tajikistan ended with signing of six bilateral cooperation documents, including an agreement on friendship and cooperation, as well as government-to-government agreements on main principles of trade-economic and scientific-technical cooperation, cooperation in the filed of culture and art, education cooperation, mutual protection of investments, and agriculture cooperation.           

According to data of the State Committee for Statistics, a two-way trade between Tajikistan and Turkmenistan in January-October 2007 has valued at US$37.7 million.  This consisted of Tajikistan’s exports to Turkmenistan estimated at US$4.2 million and Tajikistan’s imports from Turkmenistan worth US$33.5 million.