DUSHANBE, April 5, 2014, Asia-Plus – On Saturday April 5, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon held meetings with top managers of two Chinese notable companies, according to the Tajik president’s official website.

Rahmon’s talks with Sun Jubin (phonetically spelled), top manager of the Sun Yulin (phonetically spelled) Company were focused on construction of a cement plant in the Tajik northern city of Isfara.

A joint venture, Bilol Sun Yulin, has been launched for construction of the cement plant with annual capacity of 1.2 million tons.

A total cost of the project is 100 million U.S. dollars.  The construction of the cement plant in Isfara wills start in May this year and it is expected to be introduced into operation in December 2015.  The plant will create more than 1,000 jobs.

Meanwhile, Emomali Rahmon and top manager of the Yantai Group, Mr. Si Chen Hu (phonetically spelled), reportedly discussed issues related to expansion of operations of Tajik-Canadian gold-mining joint venture Aprelevka in Tajikistan and construction of a plant for manufacturing automobile tires in Tajikistan.

The Chinese company reportedly intends to invest 100 million U.S. dollars in Aprelevka in order to increase production of gold and silver.

Aprelevka was established in the Sughd province of Tajikistan in 1995.  The company is engaged in mining and processing of ores at Aprelevka, Kyzyl-Cheku, Burgunda, Ekiljon and other small deposits in northern Tajikistan.  Dore alloy is the finished product of this enterprise.  Tajikistan owns 51 percent of the shares and the Canadian company Gulf International Minerals assumes the 49% ownership interest in the joint-stock company Aprelevka.

Besides, Yantai Group also intends to invest 200 million U.S. dollars in construction of a tire manufacturing plant in Tajikistan.  The plant with capacity of manufacturing one million tires per year will be built on a 50-hectare area, the president’s website said.