Emomali Rahmon: Azerbaijan, Central Asian countries have potential for closer economic cooperation

Azerbaijan and the countries of Central Asia have the potential to transition to closer economic cooperation, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon stated in Avaza at the 8th Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asian countries and Azerbaijan, Report's correspondent in Turkmenistan informs.

According to him, the countries of the region possess significant resource potential, which creates broad opportunities for implementing joint projects.

"This opens up broad opportunities for creating joint ventures, industrial complexes, and processing natural resources," Rahmon said.

He noted the importance of more active implementation of digital and green technologies, stimulating innovation, and using artificial intelligence.

The President of Tajikistan also emphasized the need to expand interaction in trade and services, intensify production and export projects, including with the participation of small and medium-sized businesses.

According to him, special attention should be paid to the sustainability of regional supply chains and the exchange of experience in adapting products to the environmental and technical requirements of external markets.

Rahmon also noted the importance of cooperation in the agricultural sector, emphasizing the need to resolve issues of providing agricultural production with necessary resources during the seasonal period.

"This is of direct importance for the sustainability of agricultural production and strengthening the food security of our countries," he said.

Speaking about energy, Rahmon advocated for expanding cooperation and proposed considering the possibility of forming a list of priority energy projects and determining mechanisms for their joint financing.

"In this regard, I would like to re-emphasize the relevance of working through the issue of developing and implementing projects for the construction of a large oil refinery based on the latest technologies, taking into account covering the needs of the entire region," he said.