The leader of Kazakhstan emphasised the timeliness of the Turkmen leader’s initiative to convene a Central Asian summit.
On 5-6 August, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev paid a working visit to Turkmenistan. He held talks with President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov in the comfortable Avaza tourism zone of Turkmenbashi city on the Caspian Sea coast, the press office of the President of Kazakhstan reported.
The leader of Kazakhstan thanked the Turkmen leader for the warm hospitality, noting the timeliness of the Turkmen leader’s initiative to convene the third Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia.
Tokayev said the yacht voyage organised by the President of Turkmenistan was very informative and meaningful. The two leaders had free dialogue on the most pressing issues of Central Asia. It focused on building up cooperation and finding new opportunities to stay and work together during these challenging times, the President of Kazakhstan said.
The two leaders discussed a number of issues on the bilateral agenda, noting with great satisfaction the high effectiveness of bilateral relationships.
“Turkmenistan is a strategic partner of Kazakhstan. We have many long-term projects to implement. We will definitely focus on further developing relations during the next talks. The relevant instructions have been given to the Governments. Signing new agreements will undoubtedly give a very serious impetus to strengthen cooperation and friendship between our fraternal peoples,” Tokayev said.
The leader of Kazakhstan took part in the third Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia. In his speech, Tokayev underscored the symbolism of the meeting associated with the 30th anniversary of independence of the participating states. Since gaining independence, the Central Asian countries had been moving in a single impulse, sincerely welcoming achievements and supporting each other in difficult situations, he said. The states of the region are united by common history, affinities in mentality and indigenous traditions. Such meetings gave a mega-impulse to interstate cooperation, Tokayev emphasised.
In this context, the leader of Kazakhstan called for intensifying efforts to increase trade among the countries, modernize its structure and expand the range of supplied goods. Kazakhstan was able to increase exports to the countries of the region up to US$ 1 billion, the President said.
Touching upon the transport agenda, he said additional routes would be built in 4 years, which would increase Asia-Europe capacity by five times. Underscoring the huge potential of the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway corridor, Tokayev said this was the shortest route connecting the Central Asian states with the Persian Gulf region.
