Astana, May 27, 2024 - Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Murat Nurtleu held negotiations with the Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov, who arrived on an official visit to Astana.

During the negotiations, the heads of foreign affairs departments discussed a wide range of issues of Kazakh-Turkmen cooperation, including the state and prospects of interaction in the political, trade and economic, transit and transport, energy and cultural and humanitarian spheres.

The main emphasis is placed on the practical implementation of agreements reached following the state visits of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to Ashgabat in October 2021 and the President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov to Astana in October 2022, as well as the official visit of the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Ashgabat in October last of the year.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan emphasized that thanks to the political will of the heads of state, in recent years relations between the countries have been brought to a qualitatively new level.

Particular attention was paid to the further expansion of trade and economic cooperation. Over the past five years, the volume of mutual trade between Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan has increased almost 4 times. In 2023, this figure showed an increase of 28% and reached $563 million.

“In the first quarter of this year, the volume of trade between the two countries exceeded $100 million.Positive trends inspire great confidence in the fulfillment of the task of the heads of state to increase our mutual trade to $1 billion in the near future,” said M. Nurtleu.

The parties highly appreciated the interaction in the transit and transport sector. A successful example of Kazakh-Turkmen cooperation is the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway, the potential of which is increasing every year thanks to the measures taken. Last year, the volume of transportation between countries increased by 20% and amounted to 1.3 million tons.

The ministers noted the significant potential for cooperation in the energy sector, including the prospects for implementing joint projects. We expressed our readiness to promote the development of fruitful interaction in this area.

“Turkmenistan, for its part, supports Kazakhstan in the implementation of all its initiatives and recommendations at the global and regional level. I am confident that our today’s negotiations will contribute to the further development of cooperation between Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan,” said R. Meredov.

The heads of foreign affairs agencies emphasized the substantive agenda of cultural and humanitarian cooperation. In accordance with the instructions of the heads of state, this year the Days of Culture of Turkmenistan will be held in Astana, and the Days of Culture of Kazakhstan in Ashgabat, within the framework of which performances by creative groups and the grand opening of monuments to the outstanding poets of the two countries – Magtymguly Fragi and Abai Kunanbayev are planned.In this context, the events to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding Turkmen classic M. Fraga were positively noted.

During the meeting, the ministers “synchronized watches” on current aspects of the regional and international agenda, confirmed their commitment to further closely cooperate within the framework of multilateral structures, as well as to continue to provide mutual support in promoting the initiatives of the two states.

The parties emphasized the importance of deepening regional cooperation, in particular the need to complete the procedure for signing the five-party Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighborhood and Cooperation for the Development of Central Asia in the 21st Century.

 

gov.kz

translated by Qazalem