Kazakh, Turkmen Presidents hold talks in expanded format

The Heads of the two States held talks with the participation of the members of official delegations in the follow-up to the narrow meeting.

During the talks, the Kazakh President stressed that he pays paramount importance to his first State visit to brotherly Turkmenistan.

«This event is of special character and a step toward Turkmen friends in achieving common goals which is bring Kazakh-Turkmen relations of friendship, good-neighborliness, and mutual support to a new quality level,» said the Kazakh Head of State.

Noting the symbolic nature of today’s meeting during the year when the CA countries mark the 30th anniversary of independence, Tokayev cordially congratulated the entire people of Turkmenistan on the anniversary milestone on behalf of Kazakhstanis.

«Kazakhstan decisively backs the peaceful policy of Turkmenistan and Your initiatives aiming at further strengthening of cooperation both within Central Asian region and the entire Eurasian space. The foreign policy of Turkmenistan is always of creative nature. We support the neutral status of Turkmenistan supported by the UN General Assembly. Turkmenistan recently played host to the Consultative Meeting of the Leaders of the region in the pearl of the Caspian Sea – Awaza. The meeting was exceptionally productive and certainly gave a serious impetus to the interaction of all CA countries,» said the Kazakh President.

In addition, the Kazakh Head of State mentioned that trade and economic cooperation is the backbone of Kazakh-Turkmen multifaceted ties.

«After a certain decrease in bilateral trade turnover due to the global pandemic there was an over 30% rise in mutual trade in the first eight months of the year, which is certainly not a limit of our capacities. There are serious reserves in the fields of energy, transport and logistics, agriculture, and industry,» said the President.

Tokayev expressed support to the proposal of his colleague to hold the Days of Culture of Turkmenistan in Kazakhstan in 2022. Guaranteeing success of performances of the Turkmen culture masters in the country, the Kazakh head of State called the event as an important element in the cultural and spiritual relations.

The Head of State noted that Kazakhstan is ready to increase the entire range of products in 60 commodity items to the tune of over $130mln exported to Turkmenistan.

«I am sure that the said task is totally reachable. In particular, among the perspective ones is increased agricultural export, especially flour and wheat, on mutually beneficial terms at market rates. Earlier Kazakhstan agreed with the Turkmen side began exporting wheat at the reasonable price,» said Tokayev.

In conclusion, the Kazakh Head of State noted that all the issues that were discussed during the meeting are good examples of special nature of Kazakh-Turkmen relations, demonstrating our commitment to the spirit of good-neighborliness and mutual cooperation.

Following the talks, the two Presidents made a joint statement and signed agreements.