Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan Sign 20 Cooperation Documents

Most of the documents concern economic cooperation, Orda.kz reports.

The 20 documents signed by Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan during Qasym-Jomart Toqayev's visit cover a wide range of areas, from the development of digitalization to cooperation between state postal services. A significant part is economic memoranda and agreements.

National companies QazaqGAz and KazMunayGas signed agreements with Turkmen state concerns: the first with gas company Turkmengaz and the second with oil company Turkmennebit. Qasym-Jomart Toqayev spoke about the essence of these documents at a media briefing on the evening of October 10. 

Kazakhstan's oil and gas companies are interested in establishing cooperation with their Turkmen colleagues in the field of oilfield services in the Caspian Sea, said the President.

Two documents relate to the transport sector. The first is an intergovernmental agreement on strategic cooperation in transport, logistics, and transit. At the briefing, Qasym-Jomart Toqayev also discussed why cooperation in this area is critical. The President cited the following figures: last year, the volume of railway transportation between Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan increased by 20% and reached 1.5 million tons. 

A special role here is given to the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway, which is an important link in the North-South transport corridor. The tasks of connecting the road infrastructure on the border of the two states in the direction of Turkmenbashi-Garabogaz-Kazakhstan border are being systematically implemented. The broad prospects for the construction of the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Afghanistan railway route were discussed. The parties are holding substantive negotiations on this topic. We also agreed to consider the possibility of the earliest possible resumption of regular air traffic between our countries, Toqayev said.

The second document in transport concerned the interaction of the two countries in the Caspian Sea — a memorandum of cooperation between the Aqtau Sea Trade Port and the Maritime Merchant Fleet of Turkmenistan. 

The "Agreement on the Promotion and Mutual Protection of Investments between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Government of Turkmenistan" was also signed. The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan also spoke about the current business cooperation between the two countries.

Thanks to joint efforts, by the end of last year, trade turnover between our countries grew by 28%, exceeding half a billion dollars. Positive dynamics continue this year. We agreed to consider the possibility of expanding the range of goods supplied and creating favorable conditions for the further development of mutual trade. We believe that bilateral trade turnover in the near future can be increased to one billion dollars, Toqayev said.

Tomorrow, the head of Kazakhstan will participate in the forum "The Interconnection of Times and Civilizations —the Basis of Peace and Development," dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the Turkmen thinker Makhtumkuli Fragi.

Original Author: Igor Ulitin