Italian firms can help Tajikistan develop and build ever-stronger bilateral relations, Italy's foreign undersecretary Manlio Di Stefano said told deputy foreign minister Muzaffar Mahmurod Huseynzoda on Thursday.
"Italian companies, with their expertise and specific know-how, can contribute to the development of Tajikistan by offering high technology products particularly in textile, agricultural and agro-food sectors," Di Stefano said, according to a foreign ministry statement.
"We hope that President Rahmon's visit will lead to concrete results for the strengthening of political and economic ties with the country," Di Stefano added during talks with Huseynzoda in Rome.
Emomali Rahmon is due on 31 March to make a landmark visit to Italy - the first by a president of Tajikistan - aimed at making a "qualitative leap" in economic and trade relations, the foreign ministry said.
In a sign of the potential to expand bilateral commerce, the Italy-Tajikistan Business Forum has been set up ahead of Rahmon's visit and Italy's foreign trade institute ICE has organised a country presentation in Milan on 28 February, according to the foreign ministry statement.
ICE's president Carlo Ferro attended Thursday's talks between Di Stefano and Huseynzoda. The meeting followed the success of the Italy - Central Asia Conference held at the foreign ministry on 13 December and Di Stefano's visit to Dushanbe in November 2018, the statement said.