Tehran, Iran, Jun. 12
Trend:
"The Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) is open to all Asian countries, but Saudi Arabia has not applied for membership, Tajik ambassador to Iran Nizamuddin Zahedi said at a press conference in Tehran, Trend reported.
The 5th CICA Summit is to be held in Tajikistan later this week. Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) is a multi-national forum for enhancing cooperation towards promoting peace, security and stability in Asia.
“The summit is an international conference aimed at rebuilding cooperation,” said the ambassador.
"The Tajik presidency is beginning amid challenges of terrorism, extremism and drug trafficking in Asia,” said Zahedi.
“Tajikistan's goal is to increase economic exchanges between the countries of the CICA region,” he said. “Tajikistan is also focusing on cultural contributions and raising awareness of different cultures.”
Zahedi also referred to the impact of Ianian President Hassan Rouhani's visit on deepening ties between the two countries.
"We are confident that the Iranian president's visit to Tajikistan will be a new chapter in Tehran-Dushanbe relations,” he said.
Warm relations always begin after cold relations, he said and added that this relationship was cold, but the two sides decided to remove the barriers and move on.
“The two sides have expressed their interest in developing relations, and this positive trend will be confirmed during the visit of Mr. Rouhani.”
"In the area of energy cooperation, we need to talk about the problems," he said. “Solving these problems depends on our debt repayment and the monthly payment schedule has been agreed upon,” said Zahedi referring to Tajikistan's debt to Iran.
In early 2018, the head of Tajikistan's Power Generation and Distribution Company announced a $62-million debt for purchasing Iranian Sangtoudeh II power plant.
“Economic cooperation between the two countries is ongoing, and many Iranian companies are active in Tajikistan, specifically in construction of power plants,” he added.
“Tajikistan is rich in energy, and if we can use it properly, we will provide the whole region with cheap electricity. Our problem is the electricity transmission line to the countries of the region,” he said.