Tajik-Belarusian milk processing JV to be commissioned this year
By Abdul Kerimkhanov
A meeting of the Belarusian-Tajik intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation has been held in Minsk.
The Agriculture Minister of Tajikistan, Izatullo Sattori, stated that the cooperation between Belarus and Tajikistan is developing fruitfully.
Sattori noted that the MTZ tractors assembled at the joint venture are already working in the fields of Tajikistan to ensure food security.
He informed that Tajik side intends to work closely with Belarusian scientists on heat- and drought-resistant varieties of agricultural plants and to introduce them in Tajikistan.
“This issue is particularly relevant due to the climate change. We are striving for our research institutes to work more together and apply science in production,” he stressed.
The minister also said that a joint venture for milk processing will be commissioned in September.
In turn, Anatoly Khotko, Agriculture and Food Minister of Belarus, noted that the main directions for the development of interaction between the countries are engineering, agriculture, medicine and culture.
He recalled that Tajikistan and Belarus have a joint venture in mechanical engineering.
The minister considers it necessary to build ways to promote Belarussian products, including through Tajikistan to neighboring countries.
"We are working on the creation of joint dairy enterprises. We will cooperate in the field of seed production, use the resources of our scientists and plant breeders to increase yields in Tajikistan," stressed Khotko.
In 2016, in accordance with the intergovernmental agreement between Tajikistan and Belarus, the construction of a joint Tajik-Belarusian enterprise for the assembly of tractors and other equipment for agriculture as well as the production of a number of components and parts started in Gissar city.
The enterprise was included in the Resolution of Tajik Government “On Especially Important Objects”. Its construction and activities are supported by the government and the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies.
The first stage of the joint venture was commissioned by the presidents of Tajikistan Emomali Rakhmon and Belarus Alexander Lukashenko on May 16, 2018.
At present, the production complex includes a small assembly workshop (1,100 square meters), a warehouse for finished products, an open exhibition area for the display of agricultural equipment and an administrative and educational building.
Diplomatic relations between Belarus and Tajikistan were established on September 5, 1996.
The trade turnover between Belarus and Tajikistan amounted to $37.4 million in 2018. A large range of Belarusian goods has already positively established itself in the Tajik market such as tractors and trucks, chipboard, fiberboard, carpets and floor coverings, polyacetals and polyethers, tires.
In turn, in Belarus, such Tajik goods as cotton unkempt fiber, cotton yarn, dried fruit, nuts and other agricultural products are in demand.
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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94
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