TASHKENT. Aug 15 (Interfax) - Tajik President Emomali Rahmon will pay a state visit to Uzbekistan on August 17-18, Uzbek presidential press secretary Komil Allamjonov said on Wednesday.
Rahmon is to arrive in Tashkent on the morning of August 17. After laying flowers to the Mustaqillik (Independence) monument, negotiations in a narrow and an expanded format will be held at Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev's residence.
"The parties will discuss cooperation on political, trade-economic, transport, and communication matters, on tourism, cultural-humanitarian, and inter-regional cooperation between the two countries, and will exchange opinions on regional and international issues of mutual interest," Allamjonov said.
The parties plan to sign a number of documents "bringing cooperation between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to a new level," he said.
Rahmon is expected to visit the Artel plant in Tashkent, and an exhibition of Tajik goods should be opened in the Tashkent Expo-Center in the second half of the day.
On August 18, Rahmon is to meet with Nuriddinjon Ismailov, speaker of the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis (the lower chamber of the Uzbek parliament), and Uzbek Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov.
The same day, Rahmon is to visit Samarkand.
The visit program can still be amended in the course of the visit, Allamjonov said.
This will be the first state visit by a Tajik leader to Uzbekistan in 17 years.
It had been reported earlier that, following Mirziyoyev's visit to Dushanbe on March 9, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan signed 27 agreements regulating key areas of Tajik-Uzbek cooperation, the most notable ones being those on mutual trips of the two countries' citizens and on cancelling visas.
Trade turnover between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan amounted to $240 million in 2017, the highest level in 20 years. In the first half of 2018, trade grew by 35% compared to the same period in 2017.
There are 24 companies with Tajik investments operating in Uzbekistan and nine companies with Uzbek investments in Tajikistan.