During the meeting, the importance of Azerbaijan as a corridor to the west for many countries, including Tajikistan was emphasized.

The 18^th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Forum meeting was held on May 22-23 in the city of Dushanbe, Tajikistan, organized by the Center for Strategic Research under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan. Azerbaijan was represented at the forum by Mahir Humbatov, Chairman of the Board of the Economic Scientific Research Institute (ESRI) and Shukur Guliyev, Leading Research Fellow of Department of Quality Control and Planning.

Within the framework of the forum, a meeting was held between Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mahir Humbatov and Director of the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, Khairiddin Usmonzoda. At the meeting, Mr. Usmonzoda emphasized the importance of Azerbaijan as a corridor to West for many countries, including Tajikistan. For this purpose, he noted significance of growing cooperation between our nations.

Mr. Humbatov brought attention to the latest official visit of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, H.E. Ilham Aliyev being a manifestation of desirable relations between our countries. He mentioned the opinion of H.E. President Ilham Aliyev and noted that in Tajikistan, the special love for the literary heritage of the great Azerbaijani poet Nizami Ganjavi reflects deep historical ties between our nations.

During the meeting, attention was drawn to the importance of strengthening bilateral and multilateral relations between think tanks. Mr. Humbatov said that the ESRI will implement the Visiting Research Fellow Program in the coming months.

Noting that Azerbaijan and Tajikistan are also members of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), Mr. Humbatov invited Mr. Usmonzoda and the analysts of his organization to the 3^rd ECO Think Tank Forum to be held by the ESRI in the 4^th quarter of 2023.

Within the framework of the forum, Mr. Humbatov conducted a series of other meetings:

• Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan, Khamrokhon Zarifi;
• Deputy Director of the International Institute of Central Asian (Uzbekistan), Sherzod Fayziyev;
• Deputy Director of the Executive Committee of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure, Artur Golovanov,
• Deputy to Head of the Laboratory for World Order and New Regionalism of School of International Economic Relations, Dmitry Novikov;
• Director of the Institute of Strategic and Regional Studies under the President of Uzbekistan, Eldor Aripov;
• Head of the Eurasian Studies Program of the Institute of World Economy and Diplomacy of Kazakhstan, Jumabek Sarabekov;
• Director of Deparment of the National Bank of Tajikistan, Hasan Kadırov;
• Former Ambassador of Tajikistan to the United Kingdom, Masud Khalifazoda;
• Director of the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies, Oleg Makarov;
• Director of the International Research Center of Belarus State University, Oleg Leshenyuk;
• Representatives from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Alexander Nikitin and Mikhail Konarovski;
• Vice-President of the Academy of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, Jun In, and Research Fellow, Den Xao;
• The Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Tajikistan, Alimirzamin Askerov, and Advisor to the Ambassador, Vugar Ibrahimov.

During the discussions, attention was paid to the close economic relations between our countries and the commendable state of continuous and sustainable development in trade. The importance of increasing joint efforts in scientific and practical research was also emphasized.