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Kuwait is Tajikistan's gateway to Arab world - Tajik officia

First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan Nizomiddin Zohidi during his interview to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reporter
First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan Nizomiddin Zohidi during his interview to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reporter

 By Nasser Al-Otaibi

KUWAIT, April 4 (KUNA) -- First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan Nizomiddin Zohidi appreciated Kuwait's contributions to his country's policy of opening up to the Arab world.
The State of Kuwait acts as Tajikistan's gateway to the Arab region and its key partner in the Middle East region, he said in statements to KUNA on Wednesday following his two-day official visit to Kuwait.
Zohidi said the special relationship made the first president of Tajikistan Qahhor Mahkamov chose Kuwait as destination of his first overseas trip after the independence of his country in 1991.
The senior Tajik official said the bilateral ties kept growing thanks to the top-level visit exchanges, noting that the Tajik heads of state paid three visits to Kuwait over the last two and a half decades besides a visit by speaker of the House of Representatives.
"Tajikistan's leaders attach great importance to the partnership with Kuwait in all fields and seek to open new horizons for the mutually beneficial cooperation," Zohidi affirmed.
On his visit to Kuwait, the first deputy foreign minister said he held several meetings with senior officials of the Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs where they discussed ways to cement the already exemplary relations.
"The meetings showed that both Tajikistan and Kuwait held identical views on almost all regional and international issues and share desire to enhance coordination of their stances on issues of common interest at the international forums.
"We have reviewed the political, economic and cultural relations with emphasis on ways to promote the economic activities of Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) in Tajikistan," Zohidi revealed.
Regarding the joint investment, he said Tajikistan has many promising opportunities that are open for Kuwaiti investors, noting that his country is blessed with 60 percent of the freshwater resources of Central Asia.
"These water resources give a huge advantage to Tajikistan in building power generating stations," he said, affirming that his country has become regional leader in this sector.
"We are planning to build a regional power grid linking Tajikistan, Pakistan and India, which could be very attractive for Kuwaiti investors," he pointed out.
Tajikistan targets to increase the volume of foreign investments from USD 2.7 billion per year over the last two and half decades to USD seven billion in the coming two years.
The Central Asian country launched four free economic zones that offer preferential treatment to foreign investors, including modern infrastructure and technological facilities, Zohidi went on.
Dealing with the Tajik-Arab ties, he said Dushanbe hosted the second Arab-Central Asia economic cooperation forum last year, which helped promote economic and investment cooperation between both regions.
He added that Tajikistan made headway in improving the investment atmospheres through amending the relevant legislations, promoting economic reforms and facilitating the public-private partnerships. (end) nma.gb