President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, in his speech at the 5th Consultative Meeting of the Heads of Central Asian States, said that the summit will largely determine the further dynamics of multifaceted cooperation between the Central Asian states.
“Mutually beneficial trade and economic cooperation is consistently expanding. Contacts between businesses have intensified, and the number of joint ventures is growing. Major regional projects bring not only tangible mutual benefits, but also change the entire configuration of the Central Asian economy. Over the past five years, intraregional trade has grown by more than 80%, amounting to $ 10.6 billion,” the President said.
As Kassym-Jomart Tokayev stressed, Central Asia is becoming a space of new economic opportunities in trade, investment, business, science and innovation.
“Most likely, the next decade will be decisive for our region, and it depends only on ourselves how effectively we will take advantage of this historic chance. The priority task in this regard is to maximize the use of our economic opportunities, our potential,” the leader of Kazakhstan noted.
According to Tokayev, first of all, it is necessary to consistently expand trade flows between the countries of Central Asia.
“Our countries have a chance to increase mutual trade turnover to $15 billion in the near future. To do this, it is important to eliminate existing barriers, get away from excessive protectionism, and create transparent and stable trade conditions,” Kassym–Jomart Tokayev said.
He noted that the countries of the region can replace many types of imported products for each other on a mutually beneficial basis, including agricultural and construction products, chemical and textile industries.
“The priority task is to increase exports by enriching the trade nomenclature. Kazakhstan could increase its exports to the countries of the region by 175 non-primary commodity items,” the President said.
Business circles should be the main drivers of trade growth. To establish direct links between businesses, Kazakhstan proposes creating a single electronic database of commodity producers, for example, within the framework of the Central Asia Gateway portal.
In addition, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev proposed to develop an Action Plan for the development of industrial cooperation of the Central Asian states aimed at forming a closed cycle of production of certain types of goods with the prospect of export to the markets of third countries.
Then the President focused on the issues of full implementation of the transport and logistics potential of the countries of the region.
“At the current stage, the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route plays a special role. In the medium term, the volume of traffic along this corridor can be increased fivefold. We intend to systematically increase its capacity through the introduction of digital solutions and infrastructure modernization. We welcome the readiness of the Central Asian countries to participate in projects for the development of this corridor,” the Head of State said.
He briefed on the key projects of Kazakhstan in the transport and logistics sector.
“We plan to create a container hub on the basis of the Aktau port with the involvement of the world’s leading operators. It is extremely important for us to continue working together with our fraternal states to further develop the transport and logistics infrastructure to eliminate the so-called bottlenecks hindering intraregional trade. Kazakhstan aims to accelerate the implementation of a number of major projects that will contribute to the expansion of economic ties with its closest partners. We are talking about the Dostyk–Moynty, Bakhty–Ayagoz, Darbaza–Maktaaral railway projects, as well as the Zhanaozen–Turkmenistan border highway. In general, Kazakhstan intends to strengthen its position as a transit hub in Eurasia,” Kassym-Jomart Tokayev stressed.
The planned expansion of the area of application of digital solutions in Central Asia was also called a priority in the speech.
The President of Kazakhstan also supported the further improvement of the five-sided format of cooperation in Central Asia. He suggested that the establishment of a Secretariat for Consultative Meetings, as well as the appointment of special representatives, should be considered in the future.
Tokayev urged his colleagues from Central Asia to speak with a unified or similar stance to show solidarity and unity to the world community.
“In the rapidly changing world order, it is important to improve the existing mechanisms of cooperation between our countries in the field of security,” the President of Kazakhstan said.
In order to develop specific preventive measures, he proposed to hold a Dialogue on Security and Cooperation in Central Asia at the level of secretaries of Security Councils in Kazakhstan in 2024.
Special attention in the speech was paid to the issues of cultural and humanitarian cooperation. So, Tokayev took the initiative to hold the 1st Forum of Historians of Central Asian States and jointly promote the tourism brand “Central Asia”.
At the end of his speech, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev invited the leaders of the countries to the 6th Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia in Kazakhstan.///nCa, 15 September 2023
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