DUSHANBE, April 5, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is arriving in Tajikistan today afternoon, according to the Tajik MFa information department.

The visit to Tajikistan is part of Mr. Ban''s first official visit to Central Asia since becoming Secretary-General.

During his stay in Tajikistan, Mr. Ban will hold talks with President Emomali Rahmon, Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi and a number of other high-ranking Tajik state officials.  The sides are expected to discuss issues related to providing regional security, cooperation within the framework of the United Nations and other international organizations as well as problems of use of water in the Central Asian region and environmental protection.

The UN secretary-general is also scheduled to familiarize himself with construction of hydroelectricity power plants on the Vakhsh River.

We will recall that Ashgabat, Turkmenistan was the first stop on Mr. Ban''s visit to Central Asia.  Mr. Ban discussed human rights and other global and regional issues with the President of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov.  From Ashgabat, Mr. Ban on April 3 traveled to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where he met President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and Foreign Minister Kadyrbek Sarbayev.  On April 4, Ban headed to Uzbekistan, where he met President Islam Karimov.  The final leg of the UN chief''s Central Asian trip is Kazakhstan on April 6-7. There, Ban is to meet with President Nursultan Nazarbayev and members of parliament.