Azerbaijan-Tajikistan ties nearer than they might seem
Close cooperation of geographically distant nations

ANALYTICS  14 September 2023 - 15:15

The relationship between Azerbaijan and Tajikistan is arguably one of the hot topics of these days given President Ilham Aliyev’s visit to the Central Asian country on September 14. Although the two countries are not constantly in the news headlines, their mutual ties are quite nearer than they might seem.

In his sixth visit to Tajikistan, President Aliyev arrived in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe to attend the Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia as an honourary guest. He discussed bilateral ties in a one-on-one meeting with his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rahmon on September 14.

Although the press services of the two presidents did not disclose much about the meeting, Caliber.Az delves into the main sectors driving the bilateral relations between the South Caucasus and Central Asian nations, which established diplomatic relations in 1992.

Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe

Since the signing of the Friendship and Cooperation Treaty in 2007, a total of 76 documents spanning various sectors of cooperation have made a firm basis for the expanding collaboration between the two countries.

Trade relations arguably come on top of the mutual agenda. In 2022, the turnover of bilateral trade stood at $6.5 million. During the first 7 months of 2023, it surpassed $2.3 million. Petrochemicals, animal, vegetable fats and oils, cleavage products; machinery, electrical and electronic equipment; mineral fuels, plastics, miscellaneous chemical products and others were the main products exported by Azerbaijan to the Tajik market.

Tajikistan supplied the Azerbaijani markets mainly with vehicles other than railway; paper products and products of animal origin; fruits, cotton, inorganic chemicals, precious metal compounds and others. To bring the trade ties to new levels, Dushanbe launched in April 2020 a Trading House of Tajikistan in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku.

Azerbaijan's capital Baku

Both countries are working steadily to strengthen industrial cooperation. There are mutual agreements to investigate the mutually beneficial grounds for creating joint ventures in wool and thread processing, carpet production, and joint industrial parks, as well as logistics centres.

The logistic centres are expected to boost the transport cooperation involving the two countries along the East-West transport corridors, including the Middle Corridor. Tajikistan has been benefiting Azerbaijan’s vital position on the Middle Corridor’s transcontinental route spanning China and Europe.

The flagship TALCO aluminium company of Tajikistan ships its products to the European markets through the maritime and railway routes of Azerbaijan, including the Baku International Sea Trade Port and the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad.

TALCO aluminium company

The transport cooperation is also getting impetus from the resumption of the Dushanbe-Baku flight in May 2023, which allows to open new opportunities for business people, investors, as well as ordinary citizens to learn more about each country.

In 2022, Tajik businesses invested $4.4 million in the Azerbaijani economy, while the entrepreneurs from the latter placed $1.5 million in the economy of the Central Asian country. Dushanbe is seeking more investments from Azerbaijan, particularly in edible salt production, of which Tajikistan owns one of the world’s largest reserves.

The two states teamed up to implement a motion plan to expand financial cooperation between by 2025, which is expected to make the cornerstone for efficient mutually beneficial mechanisms to strengthen their bilateral ties.

Caliber.Az