DUSHANBE, December 20, 2008, Asia-Plus  -- Practical implementation of bilateral agreements was a major topic of bilateral talks of Tajik President Tajik President Emomali Rahmon with his Kazakh counterpart, President Nurusultan.  They agreed to expand and strengthen integration processes to mitigate effects of the global financial crisis, according to Tajik presidential press service.

The two leaders held a bilateral meeting on Friday on sidelines of an informal three-day CIS summit at the Kazakh resort town of Borovoye through Sunday.

In the course of the talks, Rahmon and Nazarbayev assessed the present level of bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Kazakhstan as satisfactory.  They, in particular, discussed issues related to increase in Kazakhstan’s investments in Tajikistan’s economy and construction of joint ventures and small power plant in Tajikistan with participation of Kazakh capital.

During the meeting, it was decided that Kazakhstan would increase wheat and fuel oil shipments to Tajikistan during the winter 2008-2009, the press service said.

The sides also discussed the labor migration issues.  It was proposed that the interior ministries of the two countries would set up their offices for migration affairs in Dushanbe and Astana.

Rahmon and Nazarbayev also considered cooperation within CIS, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), and the Eurasian Economic Community (EAEC), as well as issues related to regional security and the situation in Afghanistan.