EU delegation meets with Tajik officials to discuss new EU’s strategy for Central Asia

DUSHANBE, January 26, 2012, Asia-Plus  -- A delegation of the European Union, led by Dirk Meganck, head of the Asia, Central Asia and Pacific Section of the European Commission Directorate General for Development and Cooperation, on January 25 met here with Matloubkhon Davlatov, the First Deputy Prime Minister of Tajikistan.

According to the Tajik MFA information department, issues related to state and prospects of further expansion of cooperation between Tajikistan and the European Union were reportedly in the focus of the meeting.

The EU delegation arrived in Dushanbe on January 22 for a five-day working visit.  To-date, the delegation has already held talks with Murodali Alimardon, Deputy Prime Minister, Bakhtiyor Khudoyorov, Head of President’s Executive Office, as well as senior representatives of the ministries of foreign affairs, finance, health, labor and social protection, land reclamation and water resources, as well as energy and industries.

The sides reportedly discussed opportunities for financing sectors of Tajikistan’s economy in accordance with cooperation programs and outlined priorities of cooperation under the new European Union’s strategy for Central Asian designed for 2014-2020.

According to the press center of the Ministry of Energy and Industries, implementation of the Partnership for Development Program and the Power Rehabilitation Project in Tajikistan was a major topic of a meeting of Minister of Energy and Industries Gul Sherali with the European Union delegation.

The sides, in particular, discussed rehabilitation of the Qairoqqum hydroelectric power plant (HPP), the national energy development program designed form 2012-2015 as well as enhancement of power supply in GBAO’s Murgab district.

Representatives of the European Union promised to provide assistance with implementation of the mentioned projects and provide financial support for improvement of the power supply system in the Murgab district, the source said.

The European Union delegation’s visit to Tajikistan is concluding today and the delegation is scheduled to hold talks today with Major-General Sharaf Fayzulloyev, the first deputy chef of the Main Border Guard Directorate of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS), and heads of missions of international financial institutions in Tajikistan.