DUSHANBE, August 21, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- Speaking at a joint board meeting of the interior ministries of Russia and Tajikistan in Kazan, Russian Minister of Interiors Rashid Nurgaliyev expressed hope on August 21 that decisions adopted at the meeting will promote further expansion of cooperation between them in preventing crime, Russian media reported.

The minister noted that despite the global crisis a two-way trade between Tajikistan and Russia rose 30 percent in 2008 and more than 120 Russian companies have been registered and successfully operating in Tajikistan.  More than 40 percent of investments come to Tajikistan from Russia, according to him.

Nurgaliyev stressed that only together they can address modern global threats.

The joint board meeting is considering issues related to cooperation between the interior ministries of the two countries in countering illegal migration, investigating crime committed by transnational organized criminal groups.

In 2008, administration actions were imposed on more than 37,000 nationals of Tajikistan for violation of rules of stay in Russia, according to Russian media.  In all, administration action were imposed on more than 130,000 Tajik nationals for different administrative offences.

Russian media note that the number of Tajiks entering Russia has significantly increased in recent years.  In 2008, more than 1 million Tajiks entered the Russian Federation (in 2002 – 124,000).  Labor migration from Tajikistan has also shown an upward tendency: in 2004, 23,300 Tajik labor migrants worked in the Russian Federation while in 2008, their number increased to 391,000.