Following the summit talks, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan on Wednesday signed intergovernmental agreements on cooperation in the field of railway transport, transportation and transit of goods and passengers, an agreement was reached on the opening of regular flights.

In the presence of Presidents Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Emomli Rahmon, the ceremony of signing a package of 20 agreements, memorandums and other documents was held.  Among them – the Agreement between the governments of Turkmenistan and Tajikistan on cooperation in the field of railway transport;  Agreement between the governments of the two countries on the transportation and transit of goods and passengers.

 As Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov emphasized during the talks in the expanded composition, the transport and energy spheres were the unconditional priority of cooperation between Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.

“An indicative in this respect is the joint project – the international railway transport corridor Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Tajikistan, along which a high-voltage power transmission line is being built”, - the Turkmen leader said.

“I believe that the efforts of our countries can and should be aimed at achieving the main goal – the creation of a powerful and modern infrastructure that would ensure the unification of the transport systems of Asia, Europe, the Middle East”, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said.

He also noted that in order to develop cooperation in this area and profitable use of the geographical position of the two countries located on the routes in the East-West and North-South directions, Turkmenistan was ready to work together on a transport corridor that would connect both countries with access to  Caspian Sea.

 In the opinion of the head of Turkmenistan, the possibilities of intraregional transport communication were far from being realized.

 “Despite individual examples of joint implementation of a number of projects in this area, it is too early to talk about systematic work to transform Central Asia into a modern, combined, highly efficient transport hub”, the President said, having emphasized in this regard that “it is worth tackling these projects closely, uniting  efforts to develop transport and transit corridors and logistics”.

 The head of Turkmenistan also stated the expediency of studying the issue of introducing simplifications for the land transportation of goods from Tajikistan through the territory of Turkmenistan for the most optimal use of the routes.

 The Turkmen leader also proposed to consider the possibility of resuming negotiations on establishing direct or transit air communication between the two states.

 Emomali Rahmon noted in his speech that the development of transport cooperation was an important component of bilateral relations.  In his opinion, the geographical location and proximity of the two countries dictated the irreversibility of building up cooperation in that area.

 “We are interested in restoring and increasing the volume of international cargo transportation by road and rail through the territory of friendly Turkmenistan”, Rahmon said.  He also added: “It is gratifying that we have reached an agreement on the resumption of direct and transit flights using the airspace and territories of the two states”.