The 21st meeting of the joint Intergovernmental Commission on Bilateral Cooperation was held in Almaty, chaired by the Prime Ministers of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan Olzhas Bektenov and Abdulla Aripov. 

The parties exchanged views on current issues of the bilateral agenda on the eve of the official visit of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev to Kazakhstan and reviewed the pace of implementation of the agreements of the heads of the two states. In particular, the status of projects aimed at strengthening trade, economic, investment, water and energy cooperation, interaction in the field of transport, industry, agriculture, ecology and digitalization was discussed.

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan account for 57% of all trade in Central Asia. At the end of last year, trade turnover between the countries amounted to $4.5 billion; in 4 months of 2024, the volume exceeded $1.2 billion.

Industrial cooperation provides for the implementation of 69 projects worth $3.1 billion with the creation of more than 14.7 thousand jobs. To date, 12 joint projects worth $217 million have already been successfully implemented, creating about 4.5 thousand jobs. Currently, 3 investment projects worth $178 million are being implemented. One of the large projects is an electrometallurgical plant with a capacity of 500 thousand tons of steel products in the city of Taraz.

The implementation of the project for the construction of the International Center for Industrial Cooperation “Central Asia” with an area of ​​100 hectares in the Turkestan region of Kazakhstan and the Syrdarya region of Uzbekistan will create additional stimulating conditions for joint production.In the field of mechanical engineering, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan will expand cooperation to increase the volume of mutual supplies of electrical products and batteries on an annual basis.

The increase in cargo turnover is facilitated by measures taken to expand interconnections in the transport sector, develop railway infrastructure and eliminate bottlenecks. In this regard, the parties expressed joint interest in the implementation of the Darbaza-Maktaaral, Almaty ring road, and Dostyk station projects.

Taking into account the influence of the water sector on the livelihoods of countries, tools for further strengthening cooperation have been developed. In particular, joint steps to digitalize and automate water distribution areas in the territories of the two countries.

“Uzbekistan is one of the largest trading partners of Kazakhstan. Our governments, the Heads of the two states, have been tasked with bringing the volume of mutual trade to $10 billion in the medium term. In this direction, we are interested in increasing trade in the agro-industrial complex and food industry, as well as increasing the level of industrial cooperation,” Olzhas Bektenov emphasized.
In turn, Abdulla Aripov noted that relations between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have been rapidly developing in recent years in the spirit of strategic partnership and alliance. At the same time, there is enormous potential for their further strengthening. 

“Positive growth is observed in all areas. This fully meets the interests of our fraternal peoples.Undoubtedly, an important factor in such a high level of partnership is the friendly and trusting relations between the Heads of our states. I am confident that today's meeting and the agreements reached will give additional impetus to our cooperation," Abdulla Aripov noted. 

The meeting resulted in the signing of the Protocol of the 21st meeting of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Bilateral Cooperation. 
Reference information: Trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan has grown by 29.5% over 5 years, amounting to $4.4 billion. Exports of domestic goods increased by 56.9%: from $2 billion to $3.1 billion. Imports over the period under review decreased by 9.1% and amounted to $1.3 billion in 2023.

 

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