DUSHANBE, March 9, Asia-Plus - Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev is scheduled to arrive in Tajikistan on March 15 for a two-day official visit, Tajik MFA said.  

A source at the Tajik MFA said that the main purpose of the visit is for Azerbaijan’s head of state to discuss with high-ranking Tajik state officials state and prospects of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Tajikistan.  

During his stay in Dushanbe, Ilham Aliyev is scheduled to hold talks with his Tajik counterpart, President Emomali Rahmonov and other Tajik state officials.  

Diplomatic relations between Tajikistan and Azerbaijan were established on May 29, 1992.  Since that time, only two documents have been signed between the two countries: the government-to-government agreement on trade and economic cooperation and the agreement on cooperation on cooperation and interaction between the two countries.  

A number of economic documents are expected to be signed during Aliyev’s visit to Tajikistan, according to the source.  

According to the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade (MoEDT), a two-way trade between Tajikistan and Azerbaijan last year valued at nearly US$141 million.  This consisted of Tajikistan’s exports to Azerbaijan estimated at US$2.655 and Tajikistan’s imports from Azerbaijan worth more than US$138 million.  In January 2007, a trade between the two countries amounted to $10 million.  

The main item of Tajikistan’s imports from Azerbaijan is alumina.