MINSK, 5 April (BelTA) – Belarus and Tajikistan should intensify efforts to implement mutually beneficial projects in agriculture and manufacturing, Belarus' Agriculture and Food Minister Ivan Krupko said at the 14th session of the Belarus-Tajikistan intergovernmental commission for trade and economic cooperation in Dushanbe, BelTA learned from the press service of the Agriculture and Food Ministry.
“At the moment, our task is to maintain momentum in bilateral trade, increase the share of science-intensive and high-tech products in trade, as well as more actively implement mutually beneficial projects, primarily in agriculture and manufacturing,” Ivan Krupko said.
The meeting covered a wide range of issues related to bilateral trade and cooperation in manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare and pharmaceutics and establishment of direct ties between business circles. Matters related to information cooperation were included in the protocol of the commission for the first time.
Despite the ongoing global crisis, Belarus-Tajikistan trade and economic cooperation is on the rise. In 2016-2020, the bilateral trade skyrocketed to reach $111.7 million, up 5.5 times. Belarus and Tajikistan have everything in place to keep expanding effective cooperation.
The two countries have implemented a number of important joint projects. In particular, in 2019, the Garden of Friendship was planted in Belarus using seedlings from Tajikistan. Experiments to introduce Tajikistani crops (grapes, nuts) in Belarus continued last year.
A big contract to supply 100 trolleybuses with an autonomous run to Dushanbe is nearly fulfilled. In 2020, the first batch of MTZ tractors assembled in Hisor was shipped to Afghanistan. The Belarus-Tajikistan joint project in Hisor is an example of successful cooperation. The assembly factory will produce modern equipment for the agro-industrial complex of Tajikistan and create more than 100 qualified jobs in the future.
One of the burning issues for Tajikistan is improvement of skills and qualifications of its workforce. The participants of the meeting reached an agreement to expand inter-university cooperation and to invite Tajik students to Belarus to get education, retraining and advanced training.
A more active interaction between the chambers of commerce and industry holds a lot of promise, too. On 6-7 April 2021 Dushanbe will host an exhibition of Belarusian manufacturers Made in Belarus, the Belarus-Tajikistan-Afghanistan business forum, the TajikBelAgro agricultural forum, as well as business talks. The fact that Belarus has sent a big business delegation and the active position of the chambers of commerce and industry of Belarus and Tajikistan testify to the high potential of business cooperation. The Belarusian exhibition is expected to be a success, and business negotiations are expected to translate into agreements and contracts.
“We also count on significant benefits from inter-regional cooperation, including in trade and economy. The Belarusian delegation includes senior executives of Gomel Oblast and representatives of the region's business circles. The program features a visit to Khatlon Region - an agrarian and industrial region of Tajikistan. We look forward to constructive negotiations in this area with our Tajik partners,” Ivan Krupko emphasized.
