Tanzila Narbayeva proposes to extend visa-free stay of Uzbek citizens in Kazakhstan

Uzbekistan’s Senate Chairperson Tanzila Narbayeva, within the framework of her official visit to Nur-Sultan, met with the Chair of the Senate of Kazakhstan Dariga Nazarbayeva. 

Noting the friendly ties between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan that are developing on the principles of mutually beneficial partnership and trust, Tanzila Narbayeva emphasized that the leadership of Uzbekistan pays special attention to strengthening bilateral cooperation in all areas.

“The consistent implementation of the Economic Cooperation Strategy of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan for 2017-2019 served to build mutually beneficial and fruitful interaction based on the common strategic interests of the two countries. In Uzbekistan, there are 733 enterprises with the participation of Kazakhstani capital. In January-September 2019, the volume of mutual trade amounted to $2.6 billion and grew by 23.2%, the sphere of transport and transit transportation is also developing noticeably,” Narbayeva said.

Speaking about inter-parliamentary relations, the Senate Chairperson emphasized the importance of the upcoming joint work on legislative support of bilateral cooperation. At the same time, it was proposed to use the potential of parliamentary cooperation groups and specialized committees of parliaments more pragmatically to exchange experience in legislative activity. During the meeting, issues of strengthening interaction within the framework of international parliamentary structures were also discussed.

Given the intensification of Uzbek-Kazakh cooperation in the trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres, as well as the growth of mutual trips of citizens, Narbayeva suggested revising some issues in the consular sphere, in particular, regarding the extension of the stay of Uzbek citizens in Kazakhstan. Now the duration of a visa-free stay is 30 days.

Dariga Nazarbayeva emphasized that Uzbekistan is an important strategic partner of Kazakhstan in Central Asia. “Today, Kazakh-Uzbek relations demonstrate high dynamics of development in all areas,” she said.

As part of the meeting, the signing ceremony of the “Plan of practical measures on the development of inter-parliamentary cooperation between the Senate of Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan and the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan for 2019-2020” took place.