Tajik President Emomali Rahmon yesterday received visiting Head of Russia’s Republic of Daghestan, Ramazan Abdulatipov. 

Rahmon highly appraised the role of Ramazan Abdulatipov, who served as Russian Ambassador to Tajikistan from May 23, 2005 to March 6, 2009, in expansion of bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and the Russian Federation.

According to the Tajik president’s official website, Rahmon noted that Abdulatipov’s visit was a stimulator for expansion of good ties between the two countries “in new time and in new spheres.”

Rahmon outlined sectors like agriculture, energy, transportation and minerals as areas, which could drive a two-way trade between Tajikistan and the Republic of Daghestan.

Rahmon and Abdulatipov also discussed cooperation in the fields of tourism, culture and education.  A special attention was reportedly given to issues related to exchange of teachers of the Russian language and access to educational materials. 

After a meeting with President Rahmon, Ramazan Abdulatipov told reporters that he had proposed to send a group of Tajik economists to Daghestan to study the opportunities of establishment of economic cooperation between Tajikistan and Daghestan.   

The Republic of Daghestan is a federal subject (a republic) of Russia, located in the North Caucasus region.  Its capital and largest city is Makhachkala, located at the center of Dagestan on the Caspian Sea.

The major industries in Dagestan include oil production, engineering, chemicals, machine building, textile manufacturing, food processing, and the timber.  Oil deposits are located in the narrow coastal region. The Daghestani oil is of high quality, and is delivered to other regions.  Agriculture is varied and includes grain-farming, viticulture and wine-making, sheep-farming, and dairying. The engineering and metalworking industries own 20% of the republic's industrial production assets and employ 25% of all industrial workers.  Daghestan's hydroelectric power industry is developing rapidly.