Participants of the Turkmen-Tajik business forum identified priority areas of cooperation

Turkmen-Tajik business forum was held in Dushanbe, timed to coincide with the official visit of President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to the Republic of Tajikistan. 

The Turkmen delegation includes representatives of various ministries and departments, including finance and economy, trade and foreign economic relations, railway transport, agriculture and water management, industry, construction and architecture, textile industry, culture, as well as State Concerns "Turkmenhimiya" and "Turkmenneft", the State Association of Food Industry, the State Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan, khyakimliks of Ashgabat and Lebap velayats, local media and others. 

The meeting was held in the conference hall of the National Library of Tajikistan, where was also organized the exhibition of products manufactured in Turkmenistan - textile, chemical and petrochemical, food, agricultural, construction materials, etc. 

Heads of leading state structures, representatives of the Union of Entrepreneurs, the National Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, as well as over thirty state and private enterprises and companies specializing in investment and consulting services in the field of electric power industry, oil and gas, chemical and aluminum industry, agriculture, food industry, freight and logistics, supply of industrial and medical equipment took part from the Tajik side. 

Greeting the audience, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Tajikistan Davlatali Said noted with satisfaction the progressive character of the Turkmen-Tajik relations. 

Both sides stressed the importance of building mutually beneficial trade ties, implementing joint economic projects, intensifying cultural and humanitarian cooperation. Today's meeting opens good opportunities for discussing topical issues of further partnership, promising business ideas, designed to concretize the spheres of mutual interests of business circles of the two countries. 

Overview reports on the state and prospects for the development of national economies, measures of state stimulation of entrepreneurship, legal aspects of regulating the activities of foreign investors, and foreign business in general were presented to the participants of the meeting. 

The members of the Turkmen delegation who spoke at the forum, acquainted Tajik colleagues with the key aspects of Turkmenistan's foreign policy strategy, which is always open for constructive and fruitful cooperation with foreign partners, first of all, with the states of Central Asia. Such interest is due to the high dynamics of the country's economic development, where necessary conditions for conducting business are created, including a favorable investment climate. 

During the business forum, a video was shown about the achievements of modern Turkmenistan in various spheres of the economy. Representatives of the State Committee for Investments and State Property Management of the Republic of Tajikistan, the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan, the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of the two countries made presentations on their activities. 

Confirming the mutual interest of the two states in the activation of mutually beneficial trade, economic and scientific and technical cooperation, the business meeting participants discussed a number of concrete steps to diversify the partnership. As noted, real prospects for this are available in such sectors as chemical, textile, construction materials and agriculture. 

In particular, Tajik companies can take part in the creation of joint ventures for the production of glass, paint and varnish and other materials, as well as enterprises specializing in the processing of agricultural products. In the field of transport and communications, it is, first of all, the implementation of the project on the formation of the transnational transport corridor Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Tajikistan. 

In the framework of the interested exchange of opinions, it was also noted the need to steadily increase trade relations, expand export-import operations, the range and volumes of goods supplied and services rendered to each other. Exhibitions, fairs, conferences, business forums organized systematically by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Union of Entrepreneurs of the two countries should be an effective mechanism for bringing together business structures. 

Equally important is the development of humanitarian cooperation, interaction in the field of science, education and culture, including training of personnel for various industries, joint fundamental and applied scientific research. 

At the end of the plenary session, negotiations were held between representatives of state structures and private business of the two countries, within the framework of which the issues of expanding the mutually beneficial partnership were discussed in detail. / State News Agency of Turkmenistan /