Azernews.Az

President Ilham Aliyev last week held talks with his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rahmon, who was on an official visit to Azerbaijan.

The parties welcomed the development of relations between the two countries in a variety of fields and cited vast potential to further expand ties, Azerbaijani state news agency Azertag reported.

The importance of the Tajik president`s visit for boosting bilateral cooperation was stressed at the meeting.

President Aliyev said historically there have been very close and fraternal relations between the Azerbaijani and Tajik people.

Following the talks, the parties signed agreements between the ministries of foreign affairs and agriculture, state-run universities, Olympic committees, as well as a program on economic cooperation.

The signing ceremony was followed by the conferral of Presidents Aliyev and Rahmon with high state orders.

The Azerbaijani and Tajik presidents paid reciprocal visits in March and August 2007.

The Azerbaijani embassy was opened in Dushanbe in 2007, while the Tajik embassy was opened in Baku in 2008.

According to the Azerbaijani State Statistics Committee, trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Tajikistan amounted to almost $16 million in 2011, with exports amounting to $13.2 million.