DUSHANBE, 11.10.2022 (NIAT Khovar) – The Palace of the Nation hosted talks between President Emomali Rahmon and President Aleksandr Lukashenko.

After the official welcoming ceremony and performing of both nations’ anthems, President Rahmon met President Lukashenko in a restricted format. Later, Tajik-Belarusian summit talks continued in the presence of both delegations.

During the talks in a restricted format, the current state and future prospects for the development of bilateral relations in all areas of mutual interests and pressing regional and international issues were discussed in depth.

President Rahmon noted that high-level meeting 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.

Satisfaction was expressed with the rapid development of interstate cooperation in the political, trade, 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 Intergovernmental Commission of Tajikistan and Belarus on trade and economic cooperation and launch the activities of a joint working group on the development of investment cooperation.

The expansion of trade and economic cooperation was regarded as a priority area of bilateral cooperation.

They noted the necessity of creating joint ventures in the areas of mining, metallurgical, construction, light and food industries, and in the fields of agriculture and logistics, which present large resources.

The parties expressed interest in increasing the volume of exports of fruits and vegetables to the Belarusian market.

The implementation of projects for the production of dairy products, strengthening cooperation for providing the Belarusian market with cotton fiber and other industrial cotton products, and the creation of a Tajik-Belarusian enterprise for the production of carpets were noted as promising areas of bilateral relations.

The parties also expressed their desire to expand bilateral cooperation in priority cultural and humanitarian areas, as well as for training highly qualified specialists and the organization of days of culture in both countries.

Tajik – Belarusian ties within regional and international organizations such as the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Independent States, and the Collective Security Treaty Organization were also a point of discussion.

Taking into account the decision to launch the procedure for Belarus’ accession to SCO, the parties noted that interaction of the countries within 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 intelligence agencies of the two countries was noted as necessary.