DUSHANBE, December 30. /TASS/. The geopolitical and economic challenges of 2022 have strengthened business cooperation between Russia and Tajikistan, Head of the Russian trade mission in the republic Evgeny Korenkov said in an interview with TASS.

"Surprisingly, the geopolitical shifts and financial shocks of 2022 resulted in increased economic interaction between our countries." he said.

Korenkov noted that over 11 months, the Russian-Tajik trade turnover grew by almost 35% compared to the same period in 2021 and for the first time in the history of relations between the two countries exceeded $1.5 bln. Russia, according to him, still holds the first place among the trade partners of Tajikistan.

According to figures provided by the trade mission, the cooperation between Moscow and Dushanbe has been developing rapidly in recent years as bilateral trade gained 39% in 2021 compared with the previous year, not only surpassing all pre-pandemic levels, but also hitting an all-time high.

He added that Russian and Tajik businessmen are developing three new promising investment projects, with their implementation planned in 2023.

At the same time, Russia and Tajikistan plan to carry out a number of large-scale infrastructure projects, he stressed. "Several large infrastructure projects are being actively developed now with the support of industry ministries of our countries. This refers to investments into the mining sector and the consumer goods industry. We hope the cooperation plan between the ministries will be signed in the near future," he said.

This year opened a unique window of opportunities for Russian business to implement investment projects in Tajikistan, Korenkov noted, adding that the economic shocks of 2022 only bolstered the cooperation between Moscow and Dushanbe.

This year also offered unique prospects for Russian businessmen to implement investment projects in Tajikistan, he said. Russian business has not been particularly active in terms of investing into the Central Asian republic over the past several years, he noted. "However, 2022 is going to turn out to be a breakthrough year since today’s rapidly-changing macroeconomic conditions offer a unique window of opportunity, which any business focused on international cooperation should use," Korenkov suggested.

Both nations’ business communities are paying special attention to the development of joint transport and logistic infrastructure now, the envoy noted, adding that PEC, a major multimodal Russian carrier, which focuses on the delivery of consolidated goods by air and by land transport, entered Tajikistan less than a month ago. At the same time, accelerating the project’s work through the Eurasian Development Bank will also help Russian businesses eager to enter Tajikistan, Korenkov added.