Turkey, Tajikistan eye energy cooperation

ANKARA

President Gül (R) welcomes Tajikistan’s President Rahmon in Ankara. The trade volume between the two countries had reached $500 million. AFP photo

Turkey is willing to improve energy cooperation with Tajikistan, President Abdullah Gül said yesterday, highlighting Ankara’s interest in the Central Asian country’s rich water sources and mines.

Speaking at a joint press conference following talks with Tajikistan’s president, Emomali Rahmon, Gül said the trade volume between the two countries had reached $500 million today since his visit to Dushanbe in 2009.

“We attach great importance to the security, stability and economic development of Tajikistan. Within this framework, our political relations are extremely well; they are excellent. On economic issues, we particularly talked about cooperation in the field of energy,” Gül said.

Noting that Tajikistan has very rich water sources, Gül added, “We talked at length about the building of hydro-electric power plants and our cooperation to have these plants serve Tajikistan for energy.”
Rahmon also expressed a will to improve commercial relations, highlighting his country’s desire to obtain the use of Turkey’s agricultural technology.

MoU signed by two states

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) on banking and finance; a cooperation agreement on public broadcasting; an MoU on cooperation in agriculture; a cooperation agreement on youth policy; and an MoU on cooperation in energy and mining were signed between the related institutions of the two countries