Iran, Tajikistan Ink Mining Agreement

Tehran and Dushanbe signed a cooperation agreement based on which Iran will earmark US$2 million for exploring minefields in Tajikistan, a Tajik official said. Iran will make investment in exploring minefields in Tajikistan Warzab and Zarafshan regions, head of Exploration Section of Tajikistan Industries Ministry, Ebrahim Azimov, said on Wednesday 25 August 2010.

As per the same deal, Tajik experts will undergo training in the Iranian centers, he noted. Tajikistan is rich in ornament stones and precious metals mines. Located in mountainous areas, no country has ever invested in the field. Tajikistan is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Mountains cover over 90% of the Central Asian republic.

Iran and Tajikistan have cooperated in a number of development and industrial projects and enjoy a reasonably strong level of economic cooperation. Bilateral trade between the two has risen from US$40 million in 2000 to $140 million in 2007, making Iran one of Tajikistan’s top five trade partners.
According to Tajik Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade Saidrahmon Nazriyev, however, trade suffered during the world-wide financial crisis, contracting by 41% in 2009.

In November 2009, the State Committee on Statistics of the Republic of Tajikistan announced that Iran and Tajikistan have US$102.3 million worth of trade and service exchanges over the first ten months of the year. Nevertheless, bilateral totals appeared to rebound in 2010, with the deputy minister claiming that “trade between our two countries increased by almost 90% in the first four months of this year compared to the same period of last year. - Iran Daily