At the invitation of the Kazakh side, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic Zheenbek Kulubaev paid his first official visit to Astana, El.kz cites MFA.
During the talks, Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Murat Nurtleu and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan Zheenbek Kulubaev discussed a wide range of issues of bilateral cooperation, priority areas of political, trade-economic, investment, water-energy, transit-transport and cultural-humanitarian interaction. They expressed mutual commitment to deepening of alliance on the basis of friendship, brotherhood and good-neighborliness.
The Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan emphasized that due to the political will of the Heads of State, Kazakh-Kyrgyz relations have been brought to a qualitatively new level of interaction. In particular, following the official visit of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Zhaparov, the Treaty on Deepening and Expanding Allied Relations between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan was signed, a number of economic, cultural and humanitarian events were held, aimed at comprehensive strengthening of the bonds of friendship between the two countries.
“Kyrgyzstan is not only a reliable ally for us, but also a good neighbor and a brotherly nation, with which we are linked by centuries-old ties of friendship, common spiritual values and common Turkic roots,” said Nurtleu.
For his part, Minister Kulubaev reiterated that today the relations between the two countries have reached a qualitatively new level, having acquired the character of deepened allied relations.
The heads of the foreign ministries of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan reviewed in detail the implementation of the agreements reached during the 6th High Interstate Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic, held in Astana on April 19, 2024. They agreed to continue to assist in further expansion of inter-parliamentary and intergovernmental relations.
The parties emphasized the importance of expanding economic cooperation. Today Kazakhstan is among the three largest trade partners of Kyrgyzstan. Thanks to the measures taken, in recent years the bilateral trade turnover has steadily exceeded 1.5 billion US dollars. In the context of the implementation of the agreements reached at the highest level, the ministers agreed to promote the increase of mutual trade up to 3 billion US dollars. In this context, they noted the importance of launching the Industrial Trade and Logistics Complex on the Kazakh-Kyrgyz border, expanding the nomenclature of bilateral trade turnover, holding regular business forums and trade missions, as well as further developing interregional ties.
Particular attention was paid to the creation of favorable conditions for the business communities of the two countries. Kazakhstan has invested more than 1.3 billion dollars in the Kyrgyz economy.
The ministers noted the significant potential for cooperation in the spheres of energy, transportation, logistics, including the prospects for the implementation of joint projects. They expressed readiness to promote the development of fruitful cooperation in these areas.
The issues of deepening cultural and humanitarian ties, which are the basis of strong and long-term relations between the two states, were discussed in a separate item.
Last year, the Days of Culture of Kyrgyzstan and a number of large-scale events were held in Kazakhstan with great success, including joint concerts, movie days, forums of youth and elders. This year it is planned to hold cross-cultural movie days, as well as the 3rd Kazakh-Kyrgyz Youth Forum.
The Kazakh side reported that the KazAID will continue to conduct educational courses for young diplomats from Central Asian countries, as well as academic exchange of students and professional development of teachers of medical universities. In this regard, the Kazakh side invited the Kyrgyz side to take an active part in these programs.
During the meeting, the ministers “compared the notes” on topical issues on the regional and international agenda. They reaffirmed their commitment to close cooperation within the framework of such multilateral structures as the UN, SCO, CTG, CIS, CSTO, CICA, as well as mutual support in promoting international initiatives of the two states.
The foreign ministers elaborated on the development of regional cooperation, joint efforts to strengthen peace and stability in Central Asia, interaction within the Consultative Meetings of the Heads of State of Central Asia and the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea. In this context, they expressed their readiness to further strengthen inter-ministerial interaction, including within the framework of the Council of Foreign Ministers and the Program of Cooperation between the Foreign Ministries of the two countries for 2024-2026 adopted last year.
During the official visit, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic ZheenbekKulubaev was also received by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.