MINSK, 3 June (BelTA) - Mogilev Oblast plans to plant a walnut garden using seedlings from Tajikistan, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Tajikistan to Belarus Mahmadsharif Haqdod told the media after the meeting with Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko, BelTA has learned.
During the meeting the parties discussed the projects to plant Belarusian-Tajik Gardens of Friendship. One of them was launched in Brest District in April where seedlings of grapes, apple, cherry and apricot from Tajikistan were planted.
“Many varieties from Tajikistan have caught on in Brest Oblast and Gomel Oblast. There are plans to plant early varieties of walnut in Mogilev Oblast,” Mahmadsharif Haqdod said.
Speaking about the development of bilateral relations, the Ambassador stressed that the agreements reached between the countries are being successfully implemented. In April Minsk hosted a meeting of the joint intergovernmental commission for trade and economic cooperation. The parties intend to set up new joint production facilities. Plans are in place to launch a milk processing facility in Tajikistan in the autumn.
“At the beginning of the year the trade declined a little. The contracts are valid, it is just that shipments have not been made on some of them yet. But we will catch up by the end of the year. More than 90% of trade is imports from Belarus. We can boost the trade by means of increasing export from Tajikistan,” the diplomat said.
The Belarus-Tajikistan trade fell by almost 13% to $37.4 million in 2018. Belarus’ export made up $33.4 million, import was $4 million. Since the beginning of 2019, the bilateral trade between the two countries has been far from the optimal level. In January-March 2019, the trade reduced to $8.1 million and accounted for 70.3% of the level reached in the same period of 2018. Belarus’ major imports are tractors and tractor units, sugars, chip plates, carpets, flooring materials and tires to Tajikistan. Belarus’ major exports from Tajikistan are dried fruit, nuts, cotton fibers, cotton yarn, clothing.