On December 22, in Tashkent, the Presidents of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan held a briefing for representatives of the media.
“We are brought together by a common history, cultural and spiritual values, traditions and customs. For Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan is the closest, most reliable and time-tested partner. In the current difficult time, we, without exaggeration, can characterize our relations as a model of interstate cooperation,” Mirziyoyev said.
The President noted that the talks once again confirmed the readiness of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to comprehensively develop and enrich bilateral relations, fill them with a qualitatively new practical content.
The most important result of the visit was the signing of an agreement on allied relations. In addition, an interstate council is being created at the level of heads of state.
“With this step, we confirmed our readiness to actively support each other, to stand firmly shoulder to shoulder in the face of the challenges of our time,” Shavkat Mirziyoyev emphasized.
The heads of state gave a new impetus to the development of partnership in this direction, launching a number of large-scale projects such as the construction of a thermal power plant in the Samarkand region, the production of complex and phosphate mineral fertilizers, the creation of a logistics center in the Tashkent region, the construction of residential and commercial infrastructure in Tashkent, the production of cars in Kostanay and home appliances in Karaganda.
“We will also start building an international center for industrial cooperation, which will serve as an important platform for the preparation and practical implementation of new mutually beneficial projects,” the President of Uzbekistan said.
During the talks, priority attention was paid to cooperation in the energy sector. It was noted that new projects will be implemented in the field of construction and modernization of energy facilities, geological exploration, deep processing of natural gas. The heads of state also exchanged views on issues of further expansion of cooperation in the field of ensuring food security. For these purposes, agreements have been reached on growing various agricultural products in the territories of the two countries and their supply to each other’s markets.
An important place on the agenda was occupied by issues of transport and logistics. Specific measures have been identified to significantly increase the transport and transit potential, to intensify projects for the construction of new railways and highways.
The heads of state also reaffirmed their readiness to continue cooperation in the field of sharing transboundary water resources in the spirit of mutual respect and trust, as well as to strengthen cooperation to mitigate the negative consequences of the Aral Sea tragedy.
“Strengthening multifaceted and long-term cooperation in Central Asia is a guarantee of overall sustainable development,” the leader of Uzbekistan emphasized.
Separately, the importance of holding regular consultative meetings of the heads of state of Central Asia was emphasized.
During the past talks, the importance of continuing the practice of mutual support of each other’s initiatives within the framework of authoritative international and regional organizations was indicated. Taking into account the existence of common interests, the parties agreed to expand cooperation within the framework of the UN, the CIS, the SCO, the UTC, the ECO, the CICA, as well as the Central Asia Plus formats.
“We are particularly pleased that during today's state visit of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan to our country, bilateral relations have been raised to a qualitatively new level - strategic partnership and alliance. We will make every effort and opportunity to further strengthen and develop our relations in every possible way,” Shavkat Mirziyoyev concluded.
