Within the framework of the 29th meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council, Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Mukhtar Tileuberdi took part in the Ministerial Meeting «Central Asia and the Federal Republic of Germany» in the C5+1 format, El.kz cites MFA.
The agenda of the meeting included issues of regional cooperation in Central Asia, security in Afghanistan, the impact of climate change on the economy of the region, etc. Special consideration was paid to the connectivity of the Central Asia countries and Europe, in particular, cooperation in the development of interregional trade and transport infrastructure, including the assistance of the European Union's «Global Gateway» program.
In his speech, the Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan stressed that the issue of cooperation in the transit and transport sphere is becoming especially relevant in the light of the recent unprecedented geopolitical changes in the world and disruption of supply chains. «Kazakhstan is interested in establishing greater connectivity between Central Asia and Europe, including Germany. We call the participants to join the initiative to create an Interstate Water and Energy Consortium of Central Asia», - Tileuberdi said.
The parties confirmed the high level of mutual interest in the development of alternative routes, in particular, the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route.
At the same time, on the margins of the Ministerial council Tileuberdi held a number of separate bilateral meetings with the heads of delegations of Austria, Great Britain, Canada, Cyprus, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden, Estonia, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.
During the bilateral talks, priority issues on the bilateral agenda were discussed, including further expansion of political, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation with these countries and organizations.