Frank-Walter Steinmeier highlighted President Emomali Rakhmonov's willingness to conduct further democratic reforms.
"President Rakhmonov has assured me that Tajikistan is pursuing further democratization," Steinmeier told journalists. "I have expressed my hope for Tajikistan's close cooperation with the OSCE during elections and afterward."
Steinmeier said the democratic process in the country will top his meeting with leaders of political parties and presidential candidates later in the day. He added that his Tajik agenda also includes a meeting with Talbak Nazarov to discuss bilateral cooperation.
Also discussed during the minister's one-day visit, part of a five-nation tour of ex-Soviet republics, were bilateral cooperation and Afghanistan.
He hailed Tajikistan's role in supporting NATO-led forces in Afghanistan by opening up the country's airspace and bases to the International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF).
He said the sides have exchanged views on ways to resolve the Afghan problem, as little progress has been made so far, adding that stepping up regional cooperation is a crucial aspect of any solution.
Steinmeier is set to tour Tajikistan's largest hydropower plant in Nurek, about 60 miles south of the Tajik capital, Dushanbe.
The minister, accompanied by a group of German economic experts on his tour of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, is scheduled to leave Dushanbe Saturday morning for Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan.
