Speaking at a briefing on ‘How the authorities want to accelerate the gasification of residential communities in Bishkek’, the Deputy Director General for Economics and Finance of Gazprom Kyrgyzstan LLC, Arzymat Aldayarov stated that it is planned to fully gasify Bishkek within three years.

During the company’s operations so far, 53 settlements have been gasified, 1,250 kilometers of street gas distribution pipelines have been laid, and 53,000 households have been able to connect to gas. This year, the investment program included the possibility of the gasification of residential complexes and villages, but due to the environmental situation and the need to reduce the load on electrical networks, it was decided to carry gas to eleven facilities, including a handful of residential complexes. In part of the points, the supply of blue fuel has already been provided.

“In 2023, we signed a road map with Bishkek City Hall,” the Deputy Director General said. “Within this framework, it is planned to fully complete the gasification of the capital within the next three years. Together with the Cabinet of Ministers, the issue of preferential loans for gasification through state banks has been resolved.”

The Minister of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan, Arman Shakkaliyev addressed the 39^th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Economic and Trade Cooperation (COMSEC) in Istanbul. The official opening ceremony of the event took place on December 4^th with the participation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is the largest official Muslim governmental international organization, uniting 57 countries. Today, OIC countries comprise more than a quarter of the world’s population – 1.7 billion people on four continents – Asia, Africa, Europe, and South America. Over the past three years, total trade turnover between member states has increased from $3.7 trillion to $4.5 trillion. During the meeting, ministers from the participating countries discussed further efforts to strengthen cooperation, including in trade and agriculture.

Kazakhstan is actively seeking to make a significant contribution to food security. Over the past five years, the country has doubled its volume of agricultural products and exports them to more than 80 countries, working in this direction with OIC members.

“OIC countries are among the active trade and economic partners of Kazakhstan,” said Shakkaliev, addressing a report on improving the potential for trade with OIC member states. “Our trade turnover for the first nine months of 2023 amounted to $12.5 billion. Exports of Kazakhstani products to the OIC countries account for more than half of the total trade turnover – $8.4 billion. We need to combine the efforts of all members of the Organization in the development of transport and logistics infrastructure, and expansion of investment cooperation.”

On December 4^th in Moscow, the Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, Rashid Meredov met with Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Alexey Overchuk. The main topic of the talks was preparations for the upcoming 13^th meeting of the Intergovernmental Turkmen-Russian Commission on Economic Cooperation, which will be held in Ashgabat early next year.

It was emphasized that the upcoming meeting will be an important stage in the development of mutually beneficial trade and economic partnership between the two countries. Both sides noted that today, Turkmenistan and Russia are searching for new forms and areas of cooperation that meet modern realities, the needs and mutual potential of the two countries. In this context, the importance of improving the legal framework of bilateral economic and commercial relations was stated.

The parties also discussed cooperation in the cultural and humanitarian sphere. In this regard, Overchuk noted the agreements reached on the construction of a new joint Turkmen-Russian secondary school named after Pushkin in Ashgabat, the new Russian Drama Theater, and the creation of a Turkmen-Russian university in Ashgabat.