Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov met with Kyrgyzstan's Prime Minister Akylbek Zhaparov in Bishkek to discuss preparations for the upcoming official visit of President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Zhaparov to Astana in April.
"The parties discussed joint measures to increase bilateral trade turnover to $2 billion. Attention was paid to specific projects aimed at strengthening trade and economic cooperation between the two countries. Kazakhstan is ready to increase exports on 195 commodity items to the amount of $260 million," the press service of the Kazakh government reported.
The cabinet highlighted the potential of food, industrial, petrochemical, construction, pharmaceutical, and other industries, along with plans to create an industrial trade and logistics complex on the border of the two countries. "The launch of this project will bring a multiplicative effect and give an additional impetus to trade, economic, and investment cooperation," the Kazakh authorities believe. To fully unlock the potential of cooperation in agriculture, the governments of the two countries will take measures to increase the supply of products and launch joint projects and continue active interaction between research institutes and agricultural universities. In turn, Bektenov emphasized the importance of approving the regimes of operation of water management facilities of interstate use for the growing season of 2024.
In addition, the parties noted the dynamics of increasing the capacity of the border between the countries and the attractiveness of transit for cargo carriers. "In accordance with the concept of development of transit-transport potential of Kazakhstan until 2030, construction and reconstruction of checkpoints are envisaged," the press service added.
During the meeting, the parties also discussed issues of cooperation in the spheres of education, culture, and tourism. As a result of negotiations, the readiness to fully realize all the tasks set by the heads of two states and raise the Kazakh-Kyrgyz cooperation to a new level was confirmed.
Kyrgyzstan is one of the main political and economic partners of Kazakhstan in Central Asia. Diplomatic relations between the countries were established in 1992. The treaty-legal base has more than 150 documents.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Based on materials from TASS