ASTANA, Kazakhstan, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- Tajik Prime Minister Oqil Oqilov said Kazakhstan and Tajikistan will expand bilateral trade, including energy.
Oqilov, speaking at a news conference in Dushanbe, said: "Today Kazakhstan holds the leading position among CIS countries in terms of foreign trade with Tajikistan. Trade between our countries increased by 5.7 percent in the first 10 months of this year as compared to (the same period of) last year.
"We have discussed cooperation in power engineering and agreed our stances on the use of water balance; this is a sensitive issue. I think we will come to a decision which will satisfy all the countries in the region on the issue."
Oqilov made his comments following a meeting with Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov and his delegation, Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency reported Wednesday.
In addition to energy issues, Oqilov said the sides had discussed during the talks prospects for cooperation in topics including "food security, including long-term supplies of grain from Kazakhstan to Tajikistan, a range of issues on military cooperation and cooperation in tourism."
