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DUSHANBE (TCA) — A senior official in Tajikistan’s Customs Service has confirmed that the authorities have confiscated and burned 5,000 evangelical Christian calendars ordered by a Baptist church in the Central Asian country, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reported.
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TASHKENT (TCA) — On February 13, the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Malaysia held negotiations with the President of SME International Trade Association of Malaysia (SMITA) Megane Soo to discuss implementation of investment projects in Uzbekistan’s Namangan region, the Jahon information agency reported.
SMITA’s main task is to support members of the Association in finding new partners abroad for establishing business contacts and trade relations and implementing joint projects.
Megane Soo praised reforms implemented in Uzbekistan for liberalizing the economy and improving the business climate and expressed great interest in further strengthening and expanding cooperation with the country, including by organizing joint ventures in leading sectors of the economy and exports to Malaysia.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan, following the negotiations, an agreement was reached on organizing a visit of the Association members to Namangan region by the end of February. It is planned to discuss issues of implementation of specific investment projects for construction of a hotel and creation of a livestock complex.
On February 7-10, a delegation of the Kelantan State Economic Development Corporation (Malaysia) visited Uzbekistan.
According to the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Malaysia, the corporation is a financial institution for provision of loans on the principles of Islamic banking, as well as providing consulting services in this sphere.
The state of Kelantan is considered the cradle of Malaysian culture with a predominantly Muslim population and a center of agriculture and fish farming in Malaysia.
According to the Uzbek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during the visit, the Malaysian delegation was received at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan. They discussed opening a representative office of the corporation in Tashkent for conducting trainings, courses and practical workshops on microcredit for medium and small business, as well as familiarization with basics of Islamic finance.
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TASHKENT (TCA) — The states of the European Union are important trade and economic partners of Uzbekistan, and year after year the number of industries created with the input of European companies in various sectors of the Uzbek economy is rapidly increasing, the Delegation of the European Union to Uzbekistan said.
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KABUL (TCA) — Zamir Kabulov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Afghanistan envoy, told reporters in Moscow on February 12 that a US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan will not create a power vacuum in Afghanistan and the Taliban can be a potential ally in the fight against Daesh in the country, Afghan broadcaster TOLOnews reported.
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ALMATY, Kazakhstan (TCA) — The leader of a group in Almaty that has raised concerns over problems faced by ethnic Kazakhs in China’s Xinjiang region is on trial. Serikzhan Bilash, who is charged with illegally leading an unregistered organization, pleaded not guilty as his trial started in Almaty on February 12, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service reported.
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ASTANA (TCA) — Indian companies will take part in construction of solar and coal power plants in Kazakhstan. NTPC Limited, India’s largest power conglomerate, has signed a Memorandum with Kazakh Invest national investment support and promotion company, during a Kazakhstan delegation visit to India. The delegation, headed by Minister of Energy Kanat Bozumbayev, participated in the largest international conference PETROTECH-2019 dedicated to the renewable energy and the development of exploration and mining technologies, Kazakh Invest reported.
During the Ministerial Session on ‘Collaborating for a sustainable and secure energy access for all’, Kanat Bozumbayev spoke about Kazakhstan’s energy potential, the modernization initiative and investment opportunities in the energy industry in Kazakhstan.
Bozumbayev also had a meeting with Dharmendra Pradhan, the Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas of India. The parties discussed potential collaboration in the O&G sector as well as prospects of cooperation between Kazakh and Indian companies for O&G exploration and development.
During the meeting with N. Sivasailam, the Department of Commerce Special Secretary, the Kazakhstan delegation discussed opportunities for trade, economic and investment cooperation, the advantages of logistics integration as well as economic benefits of exploring transit capabilities of both countries. The emphasis was made on the proposal of Kazakhstan to create a Consortium that would connect the railway networks of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran to the Chabahar port and thus enable transportation of goods from Central Asia to India.
Along with this, E. Kosherbayev, the Kazakh Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, and B. Sarsenbayev, the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to India, met with P. Saran, the Deputy National Security Adviser of India. The parties agreed to conduct the 3rd Meeting of the Security Council of Kazakhstan and India in March 2019.
