ASTANA (TCA) — Contracts worth almost $1 billion were signed at a Kazakh-Uzbek business forum in Astana on March 23. The forum was held as part of Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s official visit to Kazakhstan, his first trip to Kazakhstan since he came to power last year.
During his talks with Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Mirziyoyev said that Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are close neighbors and time-tested partners, and the reinvigoration of ties at different levels are a confirmation of interest of both countries in enhancing the multi-faceted relations, the press service of the Uzbek president reported.
Nazarbayev said that in the last five months, trade between the two countries increased by 30 percent.
Following the Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan negotiations, 13 inter-state and intergovernmental documents were signed, including a Joint Declaration on further deepening strategic partnership and strengthening good neighborhood ties between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, the Strategy of economic cooperation for 2017-2019, and the Agreement on interregional cooperation.
At the Kazakh-Uzbek business forum, companies of the two countries signed 92 documents for a total amount of 840 million US dollars, the Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan reported.
Opening the business forum, Atameken’s Deputy Chairman of the Board Nurzhan Altaev said, “We believe that this is the first step of a new stage in the formation of economic cooperation between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. In the previous stages of our cooperation, there was much competition between our countries. Now we understand that alongside us there are huge sales markets — the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China. Our two fraternal nations need to cooperate, to go out together to these markets. For example, the China market is very large, it is impossible for us to satisfy the demands of the Chinese market and meet these volumes in the food industry. Kazakhstani businesspeople won’t be able to do it on their own, we need to unite. We need the products that we can’t produce in Kazakhstan due to climatic conditions, due to the lack of this or that raw material, but it is present in Uzbekistan. Therefore, we can unite and promote all these goods to these markets. You know that Kazakhstan is in the same Union [Eurasian Economic Union – edit.] with Russia and this gives us great opportunities for export. Our Uzbek partners are ready to enter Kazakhstan, create joint ventures with our businessmen and to export these products to foreign markets.”
Documents signed at the business forum include, among others: Agreement on the organization of assembly production (SKD) of cars of JSC GM Uzbekistan; Memorandum of understanding on the supply and transit of crude oil; contracts for the supply of fresh and processed fruit and vegetables; and Memorandum of cooperation between Uzbekistan’s pharmaceutical State Joint Stock Concern Uzfarmsanoat and the Association of Pharmaceutical Cluster of Southern Kazakhstan.
