DUSHANBE, October 28, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- A trade between Tajikistan and the Russian has amounted to more than 600 million U.S. dollars in January-September 2009, Aleksandr Yakovlev, Russia’s Trade Representative to Tajikistan, told Asia-Plus yesterday on sidelines of opening of the 4th international three-day exhibition, entitled Tajikistan Infrastructure 2009, in Dushanbe.

According to him, the global financial crisis has not affected trade and economic cooperation between the two countries seriously.  “The crisis has led to a 25-28 percent decrease in trade between Tajikistan and Russia and this figure is not so considerable,” Yakovlev said.

The Russian trade representative noted that his country was striving for expanding trade and economic cooperation with Tajikistan.   “Over the last three years alone, Russian companies have invested more than 800 million U.S. dollars in various sectors of Tajikistan’s economy,” said Yakovlev, “Over the first nine months of this year, Russia’s direct investments in Tajikistan’s economy have amounted to more than 80 million U.S. dollars.”

It is not so large amount but Russia intends to increase investments in Tajikistan, he added.

The international three-day exhibition, Tajikistan Infrastructure 2009, opened at the Kokhi Borbad State Complex in Dushanbe.

The organizers of this exhibition are the company ITECA Osiyo (Tajikistan) and ITE (UK) - a leading international organizer of exhibitions and conferences in the emerging markets of CIS and Eastern Europe.  ITE annually organizes more than 200 international exhibitions and conferences in 20 countries around the world.

Tajikistan Infrastructure provided a platform for exhibitors to showcase their products and services.  The main subjects of the exhibition include construction, energy, mining, communications and information technologies, banks of insurance companies, transportation, health care, and agrarian sector.

Among the professional visitors are representatives of such countries as Austria, German, Great Britain, China, France, Finland, Iran, Kazakhstan, Poland, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

More than 50 companies from 18 countries have put their achievements the mentioned industries on display at the fair in Dushanbe.

The main objective of the exhibition is in creating conditions for acquainting the population and representatives of the business community in Tajikistan with the latest industrial achievements, promoting introduction of modern technologies to everyday life and production, and promoting further enhancement of the industrial sector in Tajikistan.