DUSHANBE, February 21, 2009, Asia-Plus -- On Friday February 20, Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi met with visiting UN Secretary General’s Special Representative and the Head of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy in Central Asia (UNRCCA), Miroslav Jenca.

According to the Tajik MFA information department, Zarifi and Jenca exchanged views on all directions of cooperation between Tajikistan and UNRCCA as well as a broad range of issues related to activities of the Center in 2009.

In the course of the talks, the two also discussed the latest developments in the region in connection with the upcoming visit of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to Central Asia as well as regional and international issues being of mutual interest.

UNRCCA was established by the UN in 2007 to help the countries of the region – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – respond more proactively to cross-border challenges and threats, such as terrorism, drug trafficking, organized crime and environmental degradation, before they become costlier and more difficult to control.