DUSHANBE, October 12, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- Over the first nine months of this year, Tajikistan’s external trade turnover including electrical power and natural gas, has amounted to 2.4701 billion U.S. dollars, which was 71.9 percent of the January-September 2008 level or 966..5 million dollars fewer, the head of the Customs Service Nemat Rahmatov told reporters in Dushanbe today.

According to him, Tajikistan had trade relations with 96 countries of the world, including 11 CIS states over the report period.

The main trading partners for Tajikistan’s imports were Russia (553 million U.S. dollars), Kazakhstan (187 million U.S. dollars) and China (186.3 million U.S. dollars), the customs service chief said

Rahmatov noted that primary aluminum and cotton fiber remained the main items of Tajikistan’s exports and China (US$265 million), Turkey (US95 million) and Russia (US$67 million) were the main trading partners for Tajikistan’s exports.

Over the same nine-month period, customs service has transferred 1.0392 billion somoni to the country’s budget, he added.