The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council session.
Excerpts from the transcript:
Mikhail Mishustin’s conversation with Prime Minister of the Republic of Tajikistan Kohir Rasulzoda
Mikhail Mishustin’s conversation with Prime Minister of the Republic of Tajikistan Kohir Rasulzoda
Mikhail Mishustin’s conversation with Prime Minister of the Republic of Tajikistan Kohir Rasulzoda
Mikhail Mishustin’s conversation with Prime Minister of the Republic of Tajikistan Kohir Rasulzoda
Mikhail Mishustin’s conversation with Prime Minister of the Republic of Tajikistan Kohir Rasulzoda
Mikhail Mishustin: We are sincerely delighted to receive you and your colleagues in the
Russian Federation and in hospitable Kazan in connection with your status as a
guest at a session of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council. First of all, I
would like to ask you to convey warm greetings and best wishes to President of
Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon from President Vladimir Putin and, of course, on my
own behalf. I would also like to wish you a very happy holy Muslim
month of Ramadan.
The
Republic of Tajikistan is our traditional strategic partner and ally in Central
Asia. Our relations have always been based on the principles of friendship,
mutual respect and fraternity. We are sincerely interested in elevating them to
a new level and imbuing them with new promising joint projects.
Russia
ranks among Tajikistan’s leading foreign trade partners. Unfortunately, the coronavirus
pandemic has affected our trade and economic activities. As of late 2020,
bilateral trade volumes plunged by 15 percent; but we expect to restore
bilateral trade through joint efforts. I hope that members of the Intergovernmental
Commission whose Russian section is headed by Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk
will do a good job, so that we can reinstate and even exceed earlier mutual
trade parameters.
We
are implementing major joint projects in the field of energy, industry and the
agro-industrial sector. The Russian Government prioritises joint efforts to
fight the coronavirus pandemic.
We
have provided Tajikistan with mobile laboratories and test systems, and we have
organised medical missions involving Russian epidemiologists. We help each
other. We are using the relevant mobile app called Travelling without COVID-19
within the Eurasian Economic Union. This simple and technologically sound app
allows users to enter the Russian Federation after they have confirmed they
have been vaccinated. And we believe that this gives us an opportunity for
simplifying mutual traffic between our countries, and that this is also a good
technological platform.
I
am also ready to discuss our joint projects and new ideas with you. Mr
Rasulzoda, you have
the floor.
Kohir Rasulzoda: Mr Mishustin, I am delighted with this opportunity to meet with you personally, and as we say now, to meet in the “offline format.”
We maintain permanent contact with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk, Chair of the Intergovernmental Commission’s Russian section, and we discuss topical matters of Tajik-Russian relations. I would like to use this opportunity to thank you for devoting permanent and sincere attention to promoting the range of issues in bilateral Tajik-Russian cooperation, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr Mishustin, Tajikistan prioritises expanded allied relations of strategic partnership with Russia. I would like to specially note that considerate and trust-based relations between the leaders of our states help advance the bilateral agenda in all directions.
Last week, the heads of state had a telephone conversation, and they charted a number of high-priority matters in our short term bilateral relations.
First, they agreed to prepare for an official visit by the esteemed Vladimir Putin to Tajikistan between 11 and 20 September this year. So, we have a lot of work to do, mostly to be sure to fill this visit with real content. I believe that, considering the pandemic’s consequences for our trade and economic relations, it is necessary to focus on working out new and unconventional approaches for their development.
Visit
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Restricted-attendance meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council
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Mikhail Mishustin’s conversation with Acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan
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Mikhail Mishustin’s conversation with Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic Ulukbek Maripov
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Mikhail Mishustin’s conversation with Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov
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Mikhail Mishustin’s conversation with Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Askar Mamin
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Mikhail Mishustin meets with Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus Roman Golovchenko
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Mikhail Mishustin’s meeting with President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov
The pandemic has curtailed trade and economic ties between Tajikistan and Russia to a certain extent. Our statistics indicate that, as of late 2020, trade volumes totaled $974 million. At this point, our main goal is to adopt cooperative decisions for reinvigorating trade and economic ties, investment cooperation and industrial co-production agreements. In February 2021, we discussed these matters in great detail with Mr Overchuk at a meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Matters in Moscow, and we agreed that additional measures would be taken.
Mr Mishustin, unfortunately, statistics on Russian-Tajik relations in 2020 show somewhat of a decrease in certain fields. In 2020, direct Russian investment volumes in Tajikistan’s economy totaled just $14 million, including $13 million for mobile communications. I believe that this indicator does not live up to our potential, and that it has hit an all-time low for almost ten years. It turns out that Russia did not even make it into the top ten countries in terms of direct investment in Tajikistan.
In April 2019, the President of Tajikistan paid an official visit to Russia, and we handed over to Russia a list of investment projects in various areas, as per your request. In 2020, we provided detailed information on some projects, and we expect that Russia will study these proposals.
In addition, we would be happy to see major Russian companies become actively involved in setting up Tajik-Russian joint ventures in Tajikistan, including some using the industrial co-production mechanism.
Mr Mishustin, I would like to separately note Tajik-Russian cooperation on the COVID-19 response effort. I would like to thank you and all concerned Russian agencies for the timely assistance last year in terms of deliveries of test systems for detecting the COVID-19 virus. The specialised agencies of our countries implement various projects to exchange experience in diagnosing, preventing and treating infectious diseases.
I would suggest setting up and training joint physician units. Our sanitary-epidemiological services could conduct more effective information exchanges regarding the spread of the coronavirus and other dangerous infectious diseases.
We are sincerely happy with our Russian friends’ successes in vaccine production. All three Russian vaccines have proved effective. We are witnessing obvious attempts by some Western countries to politicise the subject of vaccines. Unfair competition is being used against the Russian vaccine.
A vaccination programme for Tajikistan began in late March 2021. We are using the British-Indian Astra Zeneca vaccine, provided by the World Health Organisation. At the same time, I cannot hide the fact that the people of Tajikistan mostly trust the Russian vaccines. In February 2021, I sent you an official appeal requesting that you study the possibility of providing Tajikistan with a batch of Russian vaccines. The heads of our states also discussed this matter last week. Mr Mishustin, as you know, we will mark the SCO’s 20th anniversary in September, and Tajikistan presides at this summit. We would like to vaccinate most of the country’s population by that time.
Mr Mishustin, with your permission, I would like to talk briefly about other topical matters on our bilateral agenda.
