TASHKENT (TCA) — Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev visited Tashkent and held talks with Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov on April 15. The two leaders stated that water resources of trans-boundary rivers in Central Asia are a common heritage and good of the region’s nations and that stability and wellbeing of the entire region is largely dependent on their rational and fair use, the press service of the Uzbek President said.
The presidents were unanimous that when considering the issues of erecting hydro power facilities on trans-boundary rivers, it is necessary to strictly adhere to universally adopted norms of international water law, fixed in the UN conventions and other international documents, the press service said.
This might refer to large-scale hydro power plants projects implemented by neighboring Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, which might affect the flow of irrigation water to downstream Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
Islam Karimov and Nursultan Nazarbayev discussed Kazakh-Uzbek cooperation in trade, economic, water, energy, and transport spheres. They spoke for increasing bilateral trade and its diversification, boosting investment cooperation, and ensuring favorable conditions for transit of export goods.
“Cooperation of our countries, as the leading states in Central Asia, has a significant importance for the whole region. We are equally interested in further strengthening and steady development of bilateral interaction,” said Nazarbayev.
Kazakhstan is one of the main trade and economic partners of Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan exports fruit and vegetables, transport vehicles, mineral fertilizer, and construction materials to Kazakhstan, while importing ferrous and non-ferrous metals, oil and fat products from Kazakhstan.
According to Uzbek statistics, Kazakh-Uzbek trade exceeded $3 billion last year.
