On July 29, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held talks in Ankara to discuss prospects for further development of the strategic partnership between Kazakhstan and Turkey.
Tokayev and Erdogan chaired the 5th meeting of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council of Kazakhstan and Turkey.
The meeting discussed issues of expanding bilateral trade, which last year amounted to $5 billion. President Tokayev said that Kazakhstan is ready to supply at least 34 types of products to the Turkish market for a total of $1 billion.
The parties noted the special importance of the transport and logistics sector in increasing trade turnover. Tokayev emphasized that Kazakhstan attaches great importance to the development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, and expressed interest in attracting Turkish investment in the construction of modern railways, land ports and cargo terminals, as well as in shipbuilding.
In addition, the Council discussed cooperation in the energy sector, including prospects for increasing Kazakh oil exports via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline.
Cooperation in agriculture has great prospects. A quarter of the grain produced in Kazakhstan and a third of the cotton are exported to Turkey. In the agricultural sector of Kazakhstan, 23 investment projects worth $1.3 billion are being implemented with the participation of Turkish businesses.
Close educational ties between the two countries were especially emphasized. In the near future, two schools of the Maarif Foundation will be opened in Astana and Almaty, as well as branches of leading educational institutions of Turkey.
The President of Turkey stressed that his country attaches special importance to cooperation with Kazakhstan. “Today, bilateral relations have reached the level of strategic partnership. We strive to further build on this positive dynamic in the areas of trade, defense industry, agriculture, tourism, and culture. Kazakhstan is one of our largest trading partners. We will continue to work to bring the trade turnover to $15 billion,” Erdogan said.
Photo: akorda.kz
