Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 12 April, the International Institute of Central Asia (MICA), together with the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan (CSR), held an international conference in Dushanbe on the topic “Uzbekistan and Tajikistan: new prospects for strategic partnership and alliance."

The event was attended by representatives of ministries and departments of Tajikistan, including the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan (NAST), Majlisi Namoyandagon, Majlisi Oli, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan.

The Uzbek side was represented by experts from the International Institute of Central Asia, the Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan (ISMI), the Center for Economic Research and Reforms (CERR), the Information and Analytical Center for International Relations (IACIR), the Institute for Advanced International Studies (IPIR) and Institute of Macroeconomic and Regional Research (IMRI).

The event consisted of three thematic sessions dedicated to discussing Uzbek-Tajik strategic cooperation on regional and international issues, prospects for mutually beneficial cooperation in the fields of economics, energy, transport, water use, as well as expanding exchanges in the fields of education, science, culture and tourism.

In his welcoming speech, Director of the Center for Contemporary Art Khayriddin Usmonzoda noted that today Uzbekistan and Tajikistan confirm their commitment to mutually beneficial cooperation with concrete actions. “Despite the economic turmoil in the world, both countries are opening up widely to each other and sharing dividends from cooperation, exchanging sources of development, stimulating people-to-people exchanges and strengthening economic ties,” said the CSI director.

In turn, First Deputy Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan Sodik Imomi noted that further strengthening of cooperation with brotherly Uzbekistan is one of the most important areas of Tajikistan’s foreign policy. 

According to him, relations between countries are progressively developing on international platforms, such as the UN, SCO, CIS, OSCE, OIC and other organizations. “Regular consultative meetings of the heads of state of Central Asia, where common ideas and projects are promoted, are aimed at realizing the potential of multilateral cooperation in the interests of the entire region,” added S. Imomi.

As MICA Director Javlon Vakhabov emphasized, there has been an unprecedented rise in Uzbek-Tajik relations of strategic partnership and alliance, and this was a direct consequence of the good neighbor policy actively promoted by the Head of Uzbekistan since 2017.

“Since then, through joint efforts it has been possible to radically reformat relationships, move to mutual openness and strengthen trust, establish dynamic practical cooperation and broad humanitarian exchange,” stated the director of MICA. In this, as it was noted, the key role is played by the relations of personal friendship, mutual respect and trust established between the Heads of State.

As noted, the Uzbek-Tajik partnership is not limited to only bilateral issues, but also includes interaction on key issues of the regional and international agenda.

It was emphasized that Uzbekistan stands for the joint efforts of the Central Asian states to strengthen friendship, good neighborliness and strategic partnership, solve regional problems on the basis of equality, mutual consideration of interests and the search for reasonable compromises, and deepen regional cooperation. In this regard, Uzbekistan assigns a special role and place to Tajikistan, which is actively involved in promoting good neighborly relations in the region, emphasized the director of MICA.

The successful holding by the Tajik side of the fifth summit of the leaders of our countries deserves the highest praise. Its results became a worthy conclusion to the first cycle of Consultative Meetings of Heads of State and a solid contribution to improving this mechanism of interaction.

In turn, the director of the Institute for the Study of Asian and European Problems of the National Academy of Sciences, Rustam Khaidarzoda, highly appreciated the role of the Head of Uzbekistan in strengthening bilateral relations with Tajikistan. “Shavkat Mirziyoyev is the most popular political leader among our people, since it was thanks to him that positive changes were achieved in our relations and in the region as a whole, which were compared in the world press to the “fall of the Berlin Wall.”

In their speeches, the conference participants also focused on trade and economic cooperation between the two countries. In particular, as CERR Deputy Director Mukhsinjon Kholmukhamedov emphasized, thanks to the common efforts of the countries’ leaders, the volume of bilateral trade in 2023 compared to 2017 increased by more than 3 times and amounted to US$756.7 million. He also noted that the establishment of a free trade regime will allow us to bring this figure to US$1 billion in the very near future.

In turn, Deputy Director of the Center for Contemporary Art Saodat Jurakhonzoda drew attention to the fact that the opening of borders between countries contributed to the development of private transportation business in border areas, which has a beneficial effect on the level of employment of the population.

Experts also advocated expanding cooperation between the two countries in the fields of agriculture, energy, light industry, transport, digitalization, the formation of international economic corridors, and the creation of industrial and trade zones in border areas.

Along with this, special attention was paid to expanding public diplomacy, developing interregional ties, and strengthening cultural and humanitarian interaction.

At the end of the conference, the participants presented several specific practical proposals to deepen ties between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the political-diplomatic, trade-economic, investment and cultural-humanitarian spheres, which will help identify new points of growth and are aimed at truly improving the well-being of the two fraternal peoples.

In general, increasing the level of Uzbek-Tajik interaction is becoming an important factor in ensuring security and sustainable development in the vast region of Central Asia, making a significant contribution to our common efforts to promote regional cooperation, to solving complex problems of strengthening the place and role of the region in international processes, its effective integration into global economic relations.