DUSHANBE, February 10, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- Expansion of bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Egypt in the field of tourism was a major topic of a meeting of Maliksho Nematov, Chairman of the Committee for Youth, Sports and Tourism Affairs (Committee) under the Government of Tajikistan, with Ambassador Samah Sotohi, General-Secretary of the Egyptian Fund for Technical Cooperation with the CIS, which took place in Dushanbe on February 8.

The two discussed a broad rang of issues related to expansion of bilateral tourism cooperation between the two countries and training of Tajik tourism specialists in Egypt, the source at the Committee said.

They, in particular, considered the issue of attracting investments for creation and development of tourism infrastructure in Tajikistan’s districts of Varzob and Baljuvon.

Ambassador Samah Sotohi, who arrived in Tajikistan for a working visit on February 7, also held a number of talks with senior representatives from Tajikistan’s ministries of foreign affairs, culture, economic development and trade, and some other ministries and organizations.  He left Dushanbe for Cairo on February 9.

Established in 1992, the Fund is considered one of the mechanisms of executing Egypt''s foreign policy and is dedicated to support and strengthen the Egyptian bilateral relations with the CIS member nations.  The Fund is affiliated to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry and chaired by the Foreign Minister, who sets the Fund''s general policy and directions, but it is directly run by one of the ambassadors in the Ministry as a Secretary-General for the Fund.