Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev lands at Astana
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev arrived in Astana for the 6th Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia. The Azerbaijani leader was welcomed by Kazakh Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov at the airport in the Kazakh capital, Kazinform News Agency cites the Kazakh government.
Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan enjoy developing bilateral relations in the entire range of trade and economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres. The two countries’ trade turnover rose 14.3% to 529.4 million US dollars last year. The countries traded goods worth 280.6 million US dollars in January-June this year.
The governments of the two countries are carrying out joint projects in oil and gas, transport and logistics, as well as digital communication and space industries. Among them are the projects within the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, projects on laying fiber-optic communication lines and power cables under the Caspian Sea. The countries also set up the Joint Direct Investment Fund to unlock potential of bilateral cooperation.
Launched in 2018, the Consultative Meetings of the Heads of State of Central Asia aim at deepening and expanding regional cooperation. Over the past five years, the mutual trade between CA countries has increased from $5.7bn to $11bn. The Kazakhstan-CA trade turnover stood at $8bn, rising by 26.8%, in 2023.
