The President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev held a narrow meeting at the “Akorda” residence.
The discussion focused on key issues of multifaceted cooperation between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
At the beginning of the meeting, President Mirziyoyev thanked President Tokayev for the warm welcome and stressed that the current state visit is of historic significance and aims at raising the strategic partnership and alliance to a new level.
This is evidenced by the holding of the first meeting of the High-level Inter-state Council.
It was noted with satisfaction that the meeting of Intergovernmental Commission, a business forum and several cultural events were successfully held on the eve of the visit. A Strategic Partnership and Alliance Program 2034 has been prepared, and a Council under the leadership of the foreign ministries is being established.
In recent years, trade turnover between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan has doubled, the number of joint ventures has increased fivefold, the volume of cargo is growing, and major cooperation projects are being implemented.
The need to increase the effectiveness of contacts at the level of parliaments, governments, foreign policy and sectoral agencies, to continue mutual support within the framework of international and regional platforms, including the United Nations, WTO, Consultative Meetings of Heads of State of the region, formats “Central Asia Plus” was noted.
The importance of developing close cooperation in the field of youth policy and creating a robust information space was underscored. An agreement was reached to prepare a comprehensive cooperation program in this area.
The establishment of an Interparliamentary Forum involving both chambers of the parliaments of the two countries was supported.
Attention was drawn to the need to further increase the trade volumes, in particular through mutual market development and import substitution from third countries.
In this context, the governments were mandated to develop by the end of the month a separate program to increase trade turnover to US$10 billion.
In the area of industrial cooperation, a portfolio of new agreements and contracts worth US$7 billion has been prepared for the current summit.
These include projects in energy, transport and logistics, metallurgy, textiles, agriculture, construction and regional initiatives.
An agreement has been reached to accelerate the construction of the International Center for Industrial Cooperation in Syrdarya region, which will house various enterprises.
The creation of a Joint Investment Fund will be explored to provide financial support for major projects.
Discussions were also held on ensuring favorable conditions for transit cargo transport, building joint logistics complexes, and developing road and rail routes between the two countries.
Priority was given to the rapid practical implementation of strategic regional projects, including the construction of the Kambarata-1 HPS.
The Presidents stressed the importance of further developing interregional cooperation. It was agreed to transform the Regional Forum into a Council of Regional Leaders of the two countries, which will hold its first meeting in Samarkand in the autumn of this year.
The Leaders also exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual interest.