Bilateral relations of the Republic of Tajikistan with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Diplomatic relations between the Republic of Tajikistan and Great Britain were established on January 15, 1992.
On December 20, 2001 the UK opened its Embassy in Dushanbe.

On February 11, 2008 the Embassy of Tajikistan was opened in London.

Political cooperation (exchange of visits). In July 2002  Deputy Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of Great Britain John McGregory visited Tajikistan.

On February 25th – March 1st 2003 the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan Talbak Nazarov had visited Great Britain and had met with representatives of Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the professors of Cambridge University.

On July 7th 2006 the Prince Andrew, Duke of York visited Tajikistan. During his visit the Prince took part in the ceremony of opening of the new building of the Embassy of UK in Tajikistan and met with the President of the Republic of Tajikistan. He also visited Jomi district as well as Kurgonteppa – Hatlon Region.

The second visit of the Prince of York took place on 26-28th of October 2008. And during that visit the Prince checked the projects which are being implemented in Tajikistan.

In November 2010 the Permanent Under-Secretary of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Simon Fraser visited Tajikistan. He met President Rahmon, the Foreign Minister and the Chief of Defense Staff.

On October 16, 2011 the Minister of State for International Development of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Alan Duncan MP visited Tajikistan. During this visit Duncan met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan.

On July 1, 2012 the Secretary of State for International Development of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Irelands Andrew Mitchell MP has paid a working visit to Tajikistan. A. Mitchell has a several meetings with the Primer-Minister of the Republic of Tajikistan O. Oqilov, Chairman of Tax Committee, as well as with the Tajik economic block.     

On March 4-7, 2013 Baroness Vivien Stern paid an official visit to Tajikistan. During the visit, she held meetings with the representatives of the lower house of the Parliament of the Republic of Tajikistan, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Republic of Tajikistan and other officials.

On 6 September 2013 the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan Hamrokhon Zarifi met with Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, Senior Minister of State at the Foreign Office of the United Kingdom of the Great Britain and the Northern Ireland, at her first visit to the Republic of Tajikistan.

On July 1-3, 2014 the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan Sirodjidin Aslov has conducted a working visit to the UK. In the frameworks of his visit the official meetings with Senior Minister for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, Minister for the International Development, Alan Dunkan, Speaker of the House of Lords, Baroness D’Souza, the President of EBRD, Suma Chakrabarti were held. The Minister has made a statement before the members of the House of Lords of the British parliament and held the meeting with the UK business circles to discuss the opportunities of further cooperation.

On 22-26 September 2015, the Head of Central Asia divison, Eastern Europe and Central Asia Department of the Foreign Office of Great Britain, Helen Walker visited Tajikistan. During her stay she visited the free economic zone "Sughd". She also met with the Chairman of the Committee for International Cooperation of the Lower Chamber (Majlisi namoyandagon) of the Parliament of Tajikistan Mr. Olim Salimzoda.

On 15 February 2016, the Minister of State for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Desmond Swayne arrived in Dushanbe in order to implement the Tajik section of CASA-1000 project. The United Kingdom allocated 31 million pounds of soft loan for the implementation of the project.

Parliamentary cooperation. In July 2009 all Parliamentary Group on Tajikistan with representatives from both houses of British Parliament was established. The Chairman of the Group is Baroness Vivien Stern – Member of Houses of Lords in British Parliament.

Military cooperation. In the framework of the cooperation between Tajikistan and NATO, as well as for the support Tajikistan provided to the coalition forces with the beginning of military operations in Afghanistan, Tajikistan and the UK cooperate in the military field. Each year the consultations of the Ministries of Defense of two countries take place.
Trade and Economic cooperation. The Department for International Development (DFID) is the part of the United Kingdom Government that manages Britain’s aid to developing countries and works to get rid of extreme poverty. DFID has been active in Tajikistan since 2003.

In line with the recent major global review of its international assistance programme, the United Kingdom’s Government will allocate an average of 27,5 million (£14m) a year to our programmes in Central Asia, which benefit both Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic for the period 2011-2015.

The Tajik-British cooperation is developing in trade and economic spheres. According to the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade’s data the volume of trade between the Republic of Tajikistan and Great Britain in 2016 (January-September) total amount of bilateral trade reached 3723,1 thousand USD (import – 3082,5 thousand USD, export – 640,6 thousand USD).

In 9 months of 2017 (January-September) – the total amount of bilateral trade reached 3428,7 thousand US dollars (imports – 2856,9  thousand USD, export – 571,8 thousand USD).

Basic goods of export are cotton production a yarn, ores and concentrates. Basic goods of import are mineral oil, the technological equipment.

On March 15-18, 2013 the first visit of UK’s economic delegation to Tajikistan took place. During the visit have been scheduled several official meetings with representatives of economic bloc of the Government, as well as several workshops and round tables with representatives of business circles of the country.

The legal framework

1. Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan concerning the transit of defense materials and personnel through/over the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan in connection with the participation by the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in international efforts to stabilize and rebuild the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan ( signed on April 18th, 2013 in Dushanbe);

2. Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and on capital (signed on 1 July, 2014 in London).