DUSHANBE, October 12, 2009, Asia-Plus -- During his visit to Turkmenistan on October 9-10, President Emomali Rahmon invited his Turkmen counterpart, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, to pay an official visit to Tajikistan in 2010, according to presidential press service.

In the course of bilateral talks in the Turkmen city of Turkmenbashi on October 9, the two leaders pointed to the necessity of opening of aerial and rail communications between the two countries.

According to Russian media, Tajik leader stated during the negotiations that Tajikistan invited Russia and Central Asia’s states to join an international consortium on completing the construction of the Roghun hydroelectric power station (HPS).

Hydroelectricity projects in Tajikistan were reportedly among major topics of the talks.  President Rahmon, in particular, noted that the hydroelectricity projects being implemented in Tajikistan have become “a subject misunderstanding and incorrect interpretation.”  “Construction of hydropower plants in Tajikistan does not pose threat to interests of the downstream countries,” said Rahmon, “Moreover, they are being constructed on the inner rivers.”

According to him, the reservoir of the Roghun HPS and the Kambarata reservoir in Kyrgyzstan will allow mitigating effects of low-water seasons in the region.  Regulation of volumes of waters at the Roghun reservoir will allow providing more than 90 percent of the irrigated lands on an area of more than 4.5 million hectares in the Amudarya basin with water.

Tajik leader expressed confidence that construction of the Roghun HPS is of significance for providing Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and southern parts of Kazakhstan with energy and water resources during low-flow periods.