DUSHANBE, February 2, 2011, Asia-Plus -- A government-to-government agreement between Tajikistan and Russia on opening of Tajik information and culture center in Moscow and Russian information and culture center in Dushanbe was signed in Dushanbe on February 1.The document was inked by Mirzoshorukh Asrori, Tajik Minister of Culture, and Farit Mukhametshin, the head of Russia’s Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo).

According to the Ministry of Culture (MoC), the Russian information and culture center will open in Dushanbe in April.

The source at a MoC says the center will be engaged in organizing cultural events such as concerts, exhibitions, national and international conferences, festivals, as well as showing movies, videos and television programs. The agreement also provides for assistance with selecting and sending Tajik students to the Russian Federation to study at Russian universities, he added.

We will recall that Mukhametshin told reporters in Dushanbe yesterday that the centers are dedicated to promote further expansion of cooperation between the two countries in education, culture, science, use of innovative technologies and study of the Russian language.

Founded on September 6, 2008, the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation, commonly known as Rossotrudnichestvo, is an autonomous Russian federal government agency under the jurisdiction of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  The agency was established with the aim of maintaining Russia''s influence in the Commonwealth of Independent States, and to foster friendly ties for the advancement of Russia''s political and economic interests in foreign states.