Kazakhstan delegation, headed by the Deputy Prime Minister-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, Murat Nurtleu, took part in the 4th meeting of foreign ministers of the Central Asia-China format, the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic.
Participants in the ministerial meeting in accordance with the agenda of the day discussed the preparations for the first Summit “Central Asia – China”, which will be held in May in the city of Sien, the prospects and contours of further interaction in various directions between the member states of this dialogue format, as well as exchanged views on urgent international problems.
In his speech, the Kazakh Minister noted the importance of extension of trade, expanding the range of export goods, improving transport infrastructure, strengthening interaction in the field of food security, combining efforts to establish cooperation on water issues, expanding cultural and humanitarian cooperation and ensuring regional security between the Central Asia China.
“Kazakhstan attaches important importance to the development of our regional dialogue and is ready to actively interact for the implementation of specific projects and programs,” Nurtleu said.
Trade and economic cooperation is one of the cornerstone pillars of mutually beneficial partnerships and Central Asian countries have sufficient potential to increase exports to China, he added.
It was noted that the planned indicators of the turnover between the countries of the Central Asia and the CR and the PRC in 2022 at 70 billion US dollars were reached ahead of schedule and this indicates the available potential. At the same time, the turnover between Kazakhstan and China reached $ 24 billion in 2022, which is 34% more compared to 2021.
Following the meeting, the information commander of the foreign ministers of the States of Central Asia and China was adopted.
The initiative to create the Central Asia -China format belongs to the Chinese side. The main goal of cooperation within the framework of this format is to improve the mechanisms of political and diplomatic interaction, strengthen cooperation in the fields of trade, investment, transport, healthcare, science and high technologies, environmental protection and culture.