Astana hosts 7th session of Kazakh-Kyrgyz Intergovernmental Council
A bilateral meeting between the Prime Ministers Bakytzhan Sagintayev of Kazakhstan and Mukhammedkalyi Abylgaziev of Kyrgyzstan was held within the framework of the Council's session. The sides discussed topical issues of trade and economic cooperation, further plans on expanding investment cooperation and implementing joint projects in the fields of transit and transport, water energy, tourism, to name but a few.
During the meeting, the sides summed up the results of the implementation of the Protocol of the sixth session of the Council were and discussed further stages of cooperation in trade, transport, investment, energy, agriculture, as well as tourism and digitalization. In addition, the Comprehensive Program of Cooperation between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic for 2018-2020 was considered.
Opening the meeting, Prime Minister Bakytzhan Sagintayev said that the mutual respect and friendly relations of Presidents Nursultan Nazarbayev and Sooronbai Jeenbekov raised the relations between the two countries to a new qualitative level and made it possible to strengthen friendship and mutual understanding between the fraternal peoples.
The trade and economic relations between the two states demonstrate positive dynamics. In 2017, mutual trade increased by 13.4%, and, in the first five months of 2018, the growth was 9.8%.
Over the years of industrialization, new production capacities have appeared in Kazakhstan, the assortment of manufactured products, which are successfully supplied to foreign markets, has increased. Kazakhstani producers have potential opportunities for exporting products of metallurgy, food industry, digitalization, medicines and building materials.
"To date, 824 joint ventures of such areas as wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing, professional, scientific and technical activities, construction, and services, operate in Kazakhstan. In addition, in order to attract foreign investors to the top-priority sectors of the economy, Kazakh Invest National Company together with Deloitte prepared 50 ‘niche projects', in which the Kyrgyz side can participate. Obviously, the plans to increase mutual trade to $1 billion are quite feasible," the Kazakh Prime Minister said.
The participants of the meeting outlined the results of the work on the implementation of the Roadmap for Bilateral Economic Cooperation, signed in Astana on December 2, 2017. By the end of this year, it is planned to hold the first meeting of the Business Council, as well as the meeting of the trade and economic mission of Kazakhstani exporters to Kyrgyzstan. In the cooperation between the two countries, particular attention is given to the development of interregional economic ties.
The sides discussed the development of military-technical cooperation, development of interaction in the field of transboundary water use. Prospects for development of cooperation on the Kazakh-Kyrgyz state border were also considered at the meeting. The Treaty on Demarcation and the Agreement on the Regime of State Borders, signed December 25, 2017, are under ratification.
"At the suggestion of the Kyrgyz side, we are ready to sign the Protocol on Changing the Status of Checkpoints Sartobe (Tokmok) and Aukhatty (Kenbulun) from bilateral to multilateral. This will increase their capacities. We also understand that the implementation of this solution will require additional modernization of the infrastructure of these checkpoints and access roads to them. Ensuring the high-quality functioning of the border is one of the top priority tasks," the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan pointed out.
The development of regional tourist routes is another direction with significant interaction potential. A vivid example of mutually beneficial cooperation is the tourist routes to the Khan-Tengri Peak, running through the territories of the two countries.
In turn, Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Mukhammedkalyi Abylgaziev told about cooperation in the trade, transport, transit and tourism spheres. He mentioned the potential of interaction within the digital transformation of economies in the light of the EAEU unified digital agenda. Abylgaziev also dwelt on issues of improving tax administration, identification, and marking of goods.
Following the meeting, a ceremony of signing a number of documents took place. At the level of the Prime Ministers of the two countries, the Protocol of the Seventh Session of the Kazakh-Kyrgyz Intergovernmental Council was signed. The Protocol on Amendments to the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic on border crossing points dated December 25, 2003, and the Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministry of National Economy of Kazakhstan and the Ministry of Economy of the Kyrgyz Republic were also adopted.
The next session of the Kazakh-Kyrgyz Intergovernmental Council will be held in 2019 in Bishkek.