Uzbek Prime Minister to visit Tajikistan
Uzbek Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov will begin a three-day state visit to Tajikistan today to strengthen bilateral ties and discuss broader regional economic cooperation.
The visit follows a September 18 meeting of Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) delegations from both countries. Those talks led to an agreement to continue developing business relations between the regional CCIs on the Uzbek-Tajik border. The parties also consented to organising a business forum to coincide with Aripov’s visit today.
As highlighted by Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in a UN General Assembly speech last Wednesday, Uzbekistan and its neighbours play an important economic role in transitioning a war-torn Afghanistan toward peace. In talks with Washington and Kabul last May, the country’s leadership established a working group on economic cooperation and offered to host intra-Afghan peace talks as recently as last month.
Accordingly, expect today’s meeting to devote considerable energies toward promoting pan-Central Asian economic cooperation. Infrastructure initiatives are likely to be raised from regional sources of funding, including existing proposals for a Mazar-i-Sharif-Peshawar railway and a Surkon-Puli-Khumri power line, as well as an education centre in Termez.
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