BISHKEK (TCA) — The Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Askar Mamin paid an official visit to Kyrgyzstan on July 12, where he met with the President of Kyrgyzstan Sooronbai Jeenbekov and took part in the 8th Meeting of the Kazakh-Kyrgyz Intergovernmental Council.

The Meeting discussed bilateral cooperation, identified promising areas and outlined joint plans aimed at deepening trade and economic cooperation. Special attention was paid to the development of industrial and investment cooperation, the water and energy sector, the strengthening of cross-border interaction, as well as the implementation of joint projects in the field of digitalization and the space sector, the press service of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan reported.

“The Republic of Kazakhstan is one of the main trading partners of Kyrgyzstan. Kazakhstan’s share in the trade turnover of the Kyrgyz Republic is more than 11%,” said the Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Mukhammedkaliy Abylgaziyev.

In 2018, the volume of trade between the two countries increased by 13% and amounted to about $850 million. Currently, the Governments of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are working to increase the volume of trade to $1 billion a year by 2020.

The Prime Minister of Kazakhstan noted the significant potential in the sphere of bilateral and regional trade and stressed the importance of combining the joint efforts of countries to attract investment in the Central Asian region by improving the business climate and supporting small and medium-sized businesses.

“We have all the opportunities to uncover the existing potential for a significant increase in [trade] turnover,” said Mamin. “The decisions adopted at the meeting of the Intergovernmental Council will make a significant contribution to the further deepening of cooperation between our countries and will give a serious impetus to the development of bilateral economic cooperation.”

The Governments of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan agreed to increase trade and expand the range of goods supplied, and intensify work on the creation of joint ventures in priority sectors of the economy.

KABUL (TCA) — Representatives of China, Russia, and the United States held their 3rd consultation on the Afghan peace process in Beijing where they agreed on key issues including an immediate start of the intra-Afghan negotiations which will also involve the Afghan government and the Taliban, Afghan broadcaster TOLOnews reported with reference to the US Department of State statement on July 12.

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NUR-SULTAN (TCA) — Dozens of people rallied in Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, on July 12 demanding immediate release from house arrest of the leader of a group that raised concerns over the internment of ethnic Kazakhs in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service reported.

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DUSHANBE (TCA) — The Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Askar Mamin on July 11 paid an official visit to Tajikistan.

During the visit, the head of the Kazakh Government was received by the President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon. They discussed issues of bilateral trade and economic cooperation, the press service of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan reported.

Kazakh-Tajik intergovernmental negotiations were held on expanding partnership. It was said that in 2018, the volume of trade between the countries increased by 8.2%. At present, the trade turnover is $900 million. Along with this, the volume of export-import transportation by road between Kazakhstan and Tajikistan has increased 2.9-fold and amounted to 16.9 million tons.

Prime Minister of Tajikistan Kokhir Rasulzoda said that Kazakhstan is the second-largest partner of Tajikistan in terms of commodity turnover. At the same time, there are prospects for Kazakhstan to become the main trade partner of Tajikistan. To this end, the governments of Kazakhstan and Tajikistan are working on increasing the volume of mutual trade to $2 billion in the next 3-4 years.

“We are ready to expand our investment cooperation by creating joint investment projects,” said Askar Mamin.

As part of the visit, the following Kazakh-Tajik agreements were signed for a total amount of about $80 million:

– Agreement on cooperation between the Eurasian Development Bank, State Enterprise “Rohee Ohani Tochikiston” and KazakhExport JS Exports Insurance Company for $35 million;

– Agreement on cooperation between Agromashholding JSC, RSUE “Tajikselkhozleasing” and KazakhExport JS Exports Insurance Company for $20.7 million;

– Agreement on cooperation between LLC Dusti 2017 and KazakhExport JS Exports Insurance Company for $16 million;

– Framework contract on the supply of Kazakh wheat between Food Contract Corporation JS National Company and the Agency for State Material Reserves under the Government of Tajikistan for $6 million;

– Contract on the supply of canned products between PALLANT TRADE LLP and Tajero LLC distribution company for $1 million;

– Contract for the supply of 50 JAC brand cars between Kazakhstan’s SaryarkaAvtoProm LLP and Holding Asia Group Tajikistan CJSC for $655 thousand; and

– Agreement on cooperation between Kazakhstan’s Food Contract Corporation JS National Company and the Agency for State Material Reserves under the Government of Tajikistan.

TASHKENT (TCA) — The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan, Abdulaziz Kamilov, who arrived in London to attend the Global Conference for Media Freedom, met with a group of members of Parliament of the United Kingdom, Uzbekistan’s Jahon official information agency reported on July 11.

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DUSHANBE (TCA) — Empowering, motivating and involving women in the homestay tourism business was the focus of a three-day training course for 15 women from remote areas of Tajikistan, which concluded on July 10 in Dushanbe.

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