ASHGABAT (TCA) — Azerbaijan is Turkmenistan’s main neighbor in the Caspian Sea region, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov said during his official visit to Baku on August 8, the State News Agency of Turkmenistan reports.

During his talks with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev, Berdymukhammedov spoke about transport initiatives in the Afghanistan-Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey and Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan-Turkey formats. Turkmenistan also welcomes the project of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars transport corridor that will connect the railway networks of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. This project that will promote the development of trade in the region is now close to completion.

Berdymukhammedov noted that in January-June 2017, trade between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan had increased up to 40 percent as compared to the same period of 2016, saying that the existing mutual opportunities had not been used in full and the current level of the trade partnership does not reflect the real potential of the two countries.

Berdymukhammedov emphasized that Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan need to launch large-scale projects of industrial cooperation, interaction in the services and agricultural sectors.

The President of Turkmenistan also suggested intensifying the partnership between the business circles of Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, by opening of Trade Houses in Baku and Ashgabat and establishing a Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan Business Council.

DUSHANBE (TCA) — Tajikistan has accused Iran of backing high-profile killings during the Tajik civil war in the 1990s, including the assassination of the former chairman of the Tajik parliament Safarali Kenjaev in 1999, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reports.

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TASHKENT (TCA) — During the 2017 cherry season in Uzbekistan, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) partnered with Uzbek cherry entrepreneurs to open up new export markets in Europe and South Asia, the Jahon information agency reported.

USAID said that this year, 110 metric tons of sweet cherries worth $350,000 were sold to customers in London and Singapore.

Uzbekistan now boasts an annual average 100,000 metric ton harvest, ranking fifth in the world for cherry production. This successful growth is supported by USAID’s projects which support the diversification of the Uzbek agriculture sector focusing on high-value horticulture. Growth in this sector provides Uzbekistan with higher paid agricultural jobs.

USAID’s projects cover 12 provinces in 33 districts across Uzbekistan and since 2016 have been working to improve the quality and volume of agricultural production, find new markets for producers and link agricultural educational institutions with the private sector.

Since 1992, USAID has provided more than $356 million in assistance to Uzbekistan.

Today, Uzbekistan is Central Asia’s largest producer of fruit and vegetables.

In recent years, the country has grown into a major exporter of fruit and vegetable products. Previously, they were traditionally delivered mainly to Russia, Kazakhstan and other CIS countries, while today they are shipped to the markets of over 120 countries. The map of supplies has expanded largely due to the establishment of exports to Indonesia, Norway, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, USA, Thailand, and Japan.

BISHKEK (TCA) — Senior officials from 12 snow leopard range countries held a meeting in Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek, on August 2-3 to finalize the agenda and policy documents for the 2017 International Snow Leopard & Ecosystem Forum, scheduled for later this month, UNDP in the Kyrgyz Republic reported.

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BISHKEK (TCA) — In spite of the recent stalemate over a number of issues, India has reached out to Iran in a bid to remove bottlenecks in the strategically important Chabahar port project, as this port in Iran will open up for India trade access to Afghanistan, Central Asia and other countries in Eurasia, Sputnik news agency reported.

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