DUSHANBE, January 22, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- In a report released at a press conference in Dushanbe, first deputy chief of the Customs Service, Nematboy Rahmatov, noted on January 21 that a two-way trade between Tajikistan and Afghanistan nearly tripled in the year to December 31, 2008, reaching 92.5 million US dollars.

According to him, increase in the Tajik-Afghan trade resulted from construction of bridges linking the two countries and opening of marketplaces for cross-border trade.

Rahmatov added that to provide further expansion of economic cooperation between Tajikistan and Afghanistan it was necessary to solve a number of issues related to coordination of activities of the customs services of the two countries.   “We have submitted appropriate proposals on this subject for consideration to the government,” the customs official noted.