Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have agreed to hold exhibitions of their wares in Dushanbe and Tashkent this year.  

A source in the Tajik government says the sides reached an agreement on holding exhibitions of their wares this year at a session of the Tajik-Uzbek intergovernmental commission for trade and economic cooperation that took place in Dushanbe on January 10.  

Uzbek exhibition of industrial goods is expected to take place in Dushanbe in the first half of this year, while Tajikistan will put its goods on display at the exhibition fair in Tashkent in the second half of the year.  

The exact dates for holding mutual industrial exhibitions will be determined in the near future, the source added.

Recall, an agreement on holding mutual industrial exhibitions was reached between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan at the beginning of the last year. 

A delegation of traders from Uzbekistan that came to Dushanbe in April last year to show off their wares in Tajikistan caused a minor sensation.  The fair that was held in Dushanbe from April 17 to 20 was the first of its kind since independence — a fresh signal of a potential thaw between the neighboring nations that have had a generally frosty relationship since the Soviet collapse in 1991.

The goods on display at the Poytakht-90 trading house ranged from the small — everyday products like candy, fabrics, medicine and footwear — to bigger-ticket items like buses, cars, air conditioners and refrigerators.

The fair served as a showcase for around 160 Uzbek companies.  For the first three days of the event, the companies were just displaying the goods, but a frenzy of sales marked the closing day.

Tajikistan held an exhibition of its industrial goods in Tashkent from October 11 to 14.  Some 150 Tajik companies participated in the exhibition that took place at the Uzexpocenter.  They put on display their achievements in mechanical engineering, mining, light and food industries, and aluminum production.  The preference was given to products of the food industry.