Sam Bhutia
BISHKEK (TCA) — Although there has been some progress in recent years, the economic and trade relations between the European Union and Central Asia countries have a big, unused potential that needs to be fully used for the benefit of both parties. We are republishing the following article on the issue, written by Sam Bhutia*, originally published by Eurasianet:
TCA
NUR-SULTAN (TCA) — An important direction in the State Program of Tourism Development for 2019-2025 in Kazakhstan is the digitalization in the market of tourist services. Chairman of the Board of the Kazakh Tourism National Company Urken Bisakayev told PrimeMinister.kz about the prospects of domestic tourism and the work being carried out to improve this industry.
TCA
NUR-SULTAN (TCA) — In the framework of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in Russia on June 6, the Agreement on Exchange of Information on Goods and Vehicles of International Transport Moved across the Customs Borders of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and the People’s Republic of China was signed, the official website of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan reported.
TCA
DUSHANBE (TCA) — An Iranian Varesh Airlines flight landed in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, on June 6 marking the resumption of air travel between the two countries after an eight-month pause, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reported.
The airline said on June 6 that the flight, which originated in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad, then flew back to Iran with passengers that included members of a Tajik youth soccer team.
A rift emerged between the two Farsi-speaking nations when Iran hosted an Islamic conference in December 2015 and invited representatives from Tajikistan — including the exiled leader of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan, Muhiddin Kabiri — to the surprise of many Tajik officials.
Since then, Dushanbe has accused Tehran of interfering in Tajik affairs, even harking back to the civil-war era, claiming Iran was behind the killings of key Tajik political figures during that time.
Signs of an improvement in ties between the two countries were seen in March, when Tajikistan and Iran replaced their ambassadors in Tehran and Dushanbe.
The Tajik Foreign Ministry said on June 6 that Tehran had confirmed the participation of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Dushanbe on June 14-15.
The ministry said earlier that on June 1, Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin and his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, had signed a joint memorandum, in which they vowed to work together to counter the activities of “terrorist and extremist”
groups.
TCA
ALMATY, Kazakhstan (TCA) — East Kazakhstan Oblast collaborates with the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in the fight with HIV infection. Thanks to this joint work and innovative approaches, East Kazakhstan is making progress in reaching the ambitious UNAIDS 90-90-90 goals: 91% of people living with HIV know their status; 64% of those people receive sustained antiretroviral therapy; and, 89% have viral suppression, the US Mission in Kazakhstan said on June 6.
TCA
TASHKENT (TCA) — A banking summit of one of the largest financial institutions in the world, the Austrian Raiffeisen Bank, will be held in Tashkent on June 26, the Uzbek Jahon information agency reported with reference to the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Vienna.
