Tajikistan, Russia discuss migration and education issues

AKIPRESS.COM - President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon met with Chairman of the State Duma Viacheslav Volodin in Moscow on April 16 to exchange views on issues of cooperation between the two states, including in the field of economics, security and education.
This is Emomali Rahmon's first visit to the State Duma, Volodin noted. Rahmon hoped that this was not his last visit and invited Viacheslav Volodin and the State Duma members to visit Tajikistan.
"Inter-parliamentary ties are an important link in the whole complex of Tajik-Russian relations," said Rahmon. Interregional cooperation is an important element of cooperation between the two countries. Rahmon noted that about 80 regions of Russia have business contacts with Tajikistan.
Russia remains the main trade and economic partners of Tajikistan, the trade turnover has maintained a positive dynamics of development following the results of the last year, said Rahmon. "We are interested in attracting vast amounts of the Russian capital to Tajikistan," he said.
The President of Tajikistan spoke about the development of interaction in the field of student exchange and education. He reminded that the Russian-Tajik Slavic University has been operating in Tajikistan for 20 years, now 7 thousand students are studying there. Moreover, there are branches of leading Russian universities, including Moscow State University, in the country. Children learn Russian from childhood. According to Emomali Rahmon, all this shows "the real and not the declarative meaning that the Russian language has for us."
"The issue of providing educational institutions of Tajikistan with teaching staff and adapted textbooks and teaching aids remains topical," he said and noted that his country relies on the assistance of Russian parliamentarians in the training and retraining of teachers in Tajikistan.
"We welcome the decision of the Russian side to build five Russian secondary schools in Tajikistan. We will sign an agreement on this project during the visit," he said and expressed hope that the project will be implemented in the near future.
Speaking of labor migration, Emomali Rahmon noted that in this area there are open issues that need attention. The simplification of procedures for registration and obtaining a work permit, determination of the legal status of family members of migrant workers are among them. "We also look forward to the next stage of the migration amnesty for our labor migrants," he said.
As Emomali Rahmon emphasized Tajikistan and Russia share a common interest in the security sphere. "The 201st Russian military base that is the largest Russian base abroad is the most important component of the collective security system in the region," the President of Tajikistan emphasized.
Tajikistan is also counting on Russia's support in strengthening its defense capabilities.
Volodin said that Russia supports the efforts of Tajikistan to develop education in Russian. "We are ready to help with textbooks, teaching aids, and also to promote the development of skills of Tajik teachers of the Russian language, inter alia in Russian universities," he said.