Tajikistan considers the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit as an important political event for the future cooperation between the two countries, Tajikistan's Foreign Affairs Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi said on Saturday.
Clinton is having a one-day official visit to Dushanbe accompanied by her assistant for Central and South Asia, Robert Blake. They held talks with Tajikistan's President Emomali Rahmon and Zarifi.
"The Tajik side expressed interest in continuing a political dialogue with the U.S. at all levels, in particular, to support the improvement of border management and logistics of border forces, customs and law enforcement agencies to strengthen the fight against terrorism, drug traffic and transnational organized crime," Zarifi told a news conference.
Tajikistan intends to attract the U.S. investment and technology for natural resources processing, expand cooperation in its energy sector and continue consultations with the U.S. on accession to the World Trade Organization, said Zarifi.
"We considered appropriate to repeal the Jackson-Vanik amendment in respect of Tajikistan as an important step in the development of trade relations," he said.
Jackson-Vanik Amendment was imposed in 1974 to limit trading relations with socialist states, preventing emigration of their citizens. The amendment is currently in force in respect of Russia and some countries of the former Soviet Union, including Tajikistan.
