The President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, and the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, met at the Akorda Residence in a contracted format.
Current issues of multifaceted cooperation between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan were discussed.
The President of Uzbekistan, thanking for the warm welcome, emphasized that the current state visit is of historical significance and is intended to bring the strategic partnership and alliance to a qualitatively new level.
The holding of the first meeting of the Supreme Interstate Council evidences this.
It was noted with satisfaction that on the eve of the visit, a meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission, a business forum, and several cultural events were successfully held. The Strategic Partnership and Alliance Program until 2034 has been prepared, and a Council is being created under the leadership of the heads of the foreign policy departments.
In recent years, trade turnover has doubled, joint ventures have increased fivefold, cargo transportation volumes are growing, and large cooperation projects are being implemented.
It was noted that contacts at the level of parliaments, governments, foreign policy, and industry departments need to be increased and mutual support continued within the framework of international and regional platforms, including the United Nations, the WTO, the Consultative Meetings of the Heads of State of the region, and the Central Asia Plus formats.
The need for developing close interaction in youth policy and forming an information field was emphasized. An agreement was reached to prepare a comprehensive Cooperation Program in this area.
Establishing an Interparliamentary Forum with the participation of both chambers of parliaments of the two countries was supported.
Special attention was paid to further increasing the volume of trade turnover, primarily through mutual formation of markets and substitution of imports from third countries.
In this context, the governments have been instructed to adopt a separate program by the end of the month to increase trade turnover to $10 billion.
A portfolio of new agreements and contracts worth $7 billion to develop industrial cooperation has been designed for the current summit.
Among them are projects in energy, transport and logistics, metallurgy, textile, agriculture, construction, and between regions.
An agreement has been reached to accelerate the construction of the International Center for Industrial Cooperation in Syrdarya Region with the placement of enterprises.
The issue of creating a Joint Investment Fund will be worked out to provide financial support for large projects.
Issues of ensuring favorable conditions for transit cargo transportation, constructing joint logistics complexes, and developing automobile and railway routes between the two countries were discussed.
Priority was given to implementing strategic regional projects as soon as possible, including the construction of the Kambarata HPP-1.
The presidents stressed the importance of further expanding interregional cooperation. They agreed to transform the Forum of Regions into a Council of Regional Heads of the two countries and hold its first meeting this fall in Samarkand.
The heads of state also exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual interest.
UzA
