During a state visit to Azerbaijan on 24 April, Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov joined President Ilham Aliyev in bilateral talks at the 2nd gathering of the Interstate Council of Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan.
As a result of the meeting in Baku and in support of a joint declaration to deepen relations, the leaders signed a strategic partnership agreement between Azerbaijan and the Kyrgyz Republic.
In a statement to journalists, President Aliyev referred to centuries-old ties of cooperation, friendship and interaction enjoyed by Azerbaijan and Central Asia, and announced, “Today, the regions of Central Asia, the Caspian Sea and Azerbaijan are of great importance in terms of energy resources, transportation routes and trade. We are seeing great potential here and are strengthening interaction with our traditional partners from brotherly countries. Among them, cooperation with Kyrgyzstan is of particular importance.”
During the meeting, the two governments signed an addendum to the agreement on the authorized capital of the Azerbaijani-Kyrgyz Development Fund, to quadruple it from $25 million to $100 million.
To date, the Fund has received over 40 applications for investment projects in Kyrgyzstan and according to Aliyev, the construction of a five-star hotel financed by Azerbaijan already begun at Kyrgyzstan’s Lake Issyk-Kul, is due for completion by the end of next year.
The president commended the significant increase and potential for growth in trade between Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan and reported Azerbaijan’s interest in investing in renewable energy projects in Kyrgyzstan.
With reference to transport, he recommended that consultations proceed on coordination of transport routes in terms of digitalization and tariff policy, to make the route via the Caspian Sea and Central Asia to Europe both faster and more commercially viable.
President Japarov, in turn, referenced Kyrgyzstan’s construction of a secondary school in the Aghdam district of Azerbaijan, saying, “The construction of this school is Kyrgyzstan’s contribution to the restoration of peace in the regions affected by the [Azeri-Armenian] conflict.”
