Islamabad: Pakistan and Tajikistan signed two key Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) during the seventh session of the Pakistan-Tajikistan Joint Commission held in Islamabad this week, according to Radio Pakistan.
The first MoU established a “historic partnership” between Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province and Tajikistan’s Khatlon province, fostering enhanced cooperation and development. The second MoU was inked between the football federations of both nations, further solidifying bilateral ties.
A business-to-business (B2B) forum between Pakistan and Tajikistan is also scheduled for December 13 in Islamabad to explore further collaboration opportunities.
During the meeting, Pakistan’s Minister for Energy, Khurram Dastgir Leghari, and Tajikistan’s Energy Minister, Juma Daler Shofaqir, highlighted the need to deepen commercial and economic ties. Leghari introduced the joint coordination committee on transit trade, designed to address operational challenges and ensure the smooth implementation of trade agreements.
Leghari expressed optimism that the discussions would yield actionable recommendations for growth in sectors such as trade, energy, agriculture, education, and industry. He called for a clear plan to boost trade volumes by enhancing activities and removing barriers.
Bilateral trade between Pakistan and Tajikistan in 2023 reached $52.73 million, marking a 62.3% increase from the previous year, as per Tajik Customs data.
The Minister emphasized the importance of regional connectivity and invited Tajikistan to leverage trade corridors linking Dushanbe with Gwadar and Karachi under the Central Asian Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) program.
He also highlighted the $1.2 billion CASA-1000 project, which will transfer 1,300 megawatts of surplus electricity from Central Asia to South Asia via a 1,227-km-long transmission line connecting Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Leghari urged the swift completion of the remaining work to unlock the project’s full potential, benefiting both countries’ power sectors and strengthening energy cooperation.