DUSHANBE, March 12, 1:34 /ITAR-TASS/. A delegation of the Federation Council (FC) upper house of the Russian parliament, led by House Speaker Valentina Matviyenko, is to arrive in the Republic of Tajikistan on Wednesday for an official visit.
The two-day program for the visit (March 12-13) provides for talks at Majlisi Oli (the country's parliament), as well as for meetings with members of the republic's leadership.
Matviyenko told journalists on the eve of the trip that the visit is intended to promote a further development of strategic partnership between the two countries. "Russia and Tajikistan are brought together by long-standing and strong allied relations, a stable development in the economy, and in social, humanitarian, and cultural fields," she emphasized.
The FC Speaker drew attention to the dynamic character of interaction between Moscow and Dushanbe in the economic field. She said goods turnover in reciprocal trade amounted to $1.2 billion, whereas only two years ago it was less than $1 billion. "Russia is a major foreign investor in Tajikistan's economy. Our share in the aggregate direct investments is 50 percent," Matviyenko said, pointing out that "the cooperation potential is much greater than this".
Matviyenko highly appreciated the development of partnership between the regions of the two countries. "On the Russian side, the partnership involves 50 constituent entities of the Russian Federation (RF), including Moscow, St Petersburg, the Republic of Bashkortostan, Altai, Krasnodar, and Krasnoyarsk Territories, Orenburg, Chelyabinsk, Samara, and Ivanovo Regions," she said.
Matviyenko pointed out that the two sides would discuss such matters as legislative regulation of cooperation in the field of labour migration. She recalled that in 2013 the two sides had ratified an Agreement on a Procedure for the Stay of the citizens of the Republic of Tajikistan in the RF Territory. The FC Speaker drew attention to the fact that a Protocol to that Agreement would be ratified soon to lengthen the period permitting the citizens of Tajikistan to work in the RF from one year to three years. "An intergovernmental agreement on an organized enrolment of Tajikistan's citizens for work in the RF is being implemented," the head of the RF upper house of parliament added, stating that interaction in the sphere of migration is entering the channel of law while legislative norms fully accord with the interests of Russia and are up to international standards.
When speaking of the interparliamentary dialogue, Matviyenko remarked that the sides closely cooperate within the framework ofthe Interparliamentary Assembly (IPA) of the member-countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the IPA of the Eurasian Economic Communityn and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. The FC Speaker also said that a a session of the FC Commission on Cooperation and the Majlisi Milli (upper house of the Tajik parliament) would be held within the scope of the delegation's visit.
"We plan to discuss matters aimed at refining the legal basis of the entire spectrum of our relations, consider possibilities for deepening cooperation within the framework of the CIS IPA, and exchange views on integrational processes in the Eurasians pace," she related.
It is also planned that while in Dushanbe, the Russian parliamentarians will devote attention to broadening bilateral humanitarian cooperation, and visit the Russo-Tajik (Slavic) University. The FC Speaker pointed out mounting interests in the Russian language in Tajikistan and an improvement in teaching Russian at the educational establishments of the republic.
"We have decided to make our practical contribution and hand over several thousands of sets of text-books and Russian-language methodology manuals to schools. Russian schools in Tajikistan, unfortunately, still experience a shortage of instructional materials and books in Russian. We consider ourselves bound to render assistance in bridging the gap," the FC Speaker said, confirming that Russia comes out in favour of maintaining the Russian language as a means of inter-nation contacs, and regards it as a substantial factor of integration throughout the CIS space.