ISLAMABAD, May 7: Pakistan and Tajikistan on Friday finalized eight agreements to be signed during the visit of Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov next week and also agreed to subsequently negotiate preferential trade agreement and energy trade agreement.

The Tajik President is expected to visit Islamabad on May 12 on an official visit. The first ever joint economic council of the two countries also decided to make arrangement for import of cotton from Tajikistan to Pakistan's expanding textile sector and Tajikistan agreed to issue visa to Pakistanis at Dushanbe.

Speaking at a joint news conference with Finance minister Shaukat Aziz, the Tajik minister for economy and trade Soliev Khakim said his side he hoped Pakistan would revive a $500 million credit it had offered to build a dam in his country in 1992 but later could not materialised.

He said his country wanted to have full cooperation from Pakistan to establish road contact between the two countries through a 42-km Wakhan corridor and Karakorum Highway and requested Pakistan to develop a high-power electricity line through Wakhan to purchase electricity.

The two sides also signed a protocol that said Tajikistan proposed and Pakistan committed to approach IFI's and donor- countries, for joint financing for the construction of Roghun HPS, (Tajikistan).

Also Tajikistan side offered that it has capacity to export in the summer season to Pakistan on up to two billion Kilo Watt electricity power. Pakistan expressed its readiness to import energy from Tajikistan and agreed to initiate and construct Power supply lines of 500 or 750 KV from Tajikistan to Pakistan via Pamir - Wakhan - Afghanistan to the Chitral District of Pakistan.

The issues of construction of the power supply line, value of the electricity export as well as pricing issues will be considered on mutually beneficial basis. The meeting discussed in detail the bilateral trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation and analysed these relations in detail.