DUSHANBE, July 7, 2014, Asia-Plus – A delegation of the Tajik northern province of Sughd is expected to visit Russia’s Altai krai this week.

An official source at the Sughd regional administration says the delegation, led by Sughd governor Abdurahmon Qodiri, will hold talks with senior representatives of the krai authorities to discuss issues related to bilateral cooperation in the field of agriculture and regulation of labor migration.

“During the visit, they are scheduled to hold talks with Alexander Karlin, governor of Altay krai, Ivan Loor, speaker of Altay legislature, and representatives of the krai business community,” the source said.

The visit is reportedly expected to result in signing in a number of bilateral cooperation documents between the two regions of Tajikistan and the Russian Federation.   

Altai Krai is a federal subject of Russia (a krai).  It borders with, clockwise from the west, Kazakhstan, Novosibirsk and Kemerovo oblasts, and the Altai republic.  The krai''s administrative center is the city of Barnaul.  The krai is favorably located close to major sources of raw materials, has a well-developed infrastructure, especially in the area of heavy industry, and an abundance of natural resources. It is a major industrial and agricultural region of the country.  There are more than 2000 industrial companies operating in both heavy and light industry.  The leading sectors are the power, engineering, chemical and petrochemical, building material, textile, and light industries.  This increase is particularly noticeable in the flour-, grain-, and feed-milling and chemical and petrochemical industries and in individual heavy industry sectors, tractor production.  Small and medium business is developing rapidly in Altai krai, which is a necessary condition for economic stability and growth. Today, nearly a quarter of the entire working population is employed in this sector.