DUSHANBE, April 15, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- Tajikistan and Afghanistan have agreed to expand bilateral cooperation in the construction.

Chairman of Tajikistan’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI), Sharif Said, yesterday met here with an Afghan delegation to discuss ways of expanding bilateral cooperation in the construction sector and export/import of building materials, the CCI press service said.

The Afghan delegation members included Mr. Haji Fazuldin Sadiqi, an official with the Afghan Ministry of Urban Development, Mr. Hasan Navid, the president of the Hasan Navid Company, and Mr. Haji Mohammad Nabi Khalili, CEO of the Gholghola Group also member of the Board of Kabul’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

In the course of the talks, Tajik CCI head, in particular, noted that recent Afghan exhibition in Dushanbe had promoted increase in two-way trade between Tajikistan and Afghanistan.

For their part, Afghan entrepreneurs noted that aerial communication between the two countries had improved lately.  Today, three Afghan air carriers – Ariana, Kam Air and Pamir Airways – are operating four flights to Tajikistan every week.

According to data of the Agency for Statistics under the President of Tajikistan, trade between Tajikistan and Afghanistan in January-March 2010 has valued at US$20.827 million, which is 39.7 percent more than in the same period last year.  This consisted of Tajikistan’s exports to Afghanistan estimated at US$10.470 and Tajikistan’s imports from Afghanistan worth US$10.356.