President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev paid a working visit to Tashkent on April 14-15 where he held fruitful talks with President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov.
During the meeting, Nazarbayev and Karimov considered the main directions of bilateral cooperation in the spheres of trade and economy, water and energy, transport and logistics, as well as culture. They also discussed relevant issues on the international agenda, those relating to matters of international security, as well as the preparations for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tashkent in June .
Nazarbayev stressed historically friendly relations between the two countries.
“Over the years of independence, we have preserved those good relations we had before, and they even became closer. In this regard, our meeting as a meeting of the two presidents of the two neighbouring countries is important. I am proud of my friendship with you and the friendship between Kazakh and Uzbek nations. The goal is to strengthen these mutual relations, trust and pass it all on to the next generations,” Nazarbayev said, according to his press service.
Karimov praised the existing sincere friendship, mutual respect and support between the two countries. He noted that Nazarbayev’s visit is of great importance for “synchronising watches” and an exchange of opinions on key directions of bilateral cooperation. This gives an opportunity to discuss pressing issues, develop common approaches and actively improve the existing potential of cooperation in various spheres, he said.
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan take similar positions on a wide range of issues related to regional and global security, development of political, economic, and social spheres, the two leaders underscored during the talks.
Nazarbayev thanked the Uzbek leader for his country’s support of Kazakhstan’s bid for a United Nations non-permanent member seat for 2017-2018, Akorda’s press release reported.
The two presidents reiterated their support for the early restoration of peace and stability in Afghanistan and noted each other’s contribution to the rehabilitation of the Afghan economy.
Nazarbayev and Karimov also noted the water resources of trans-boundary rivers in Central Asia are a “joint asset of the region’s peoples”. The entire region’s stability and prosperity depend on the “sensible and just” use of the resource, they said. That is why the two leaders called on all other Central Asian governments to rely on the universally accepted norms of the international water law, fixed in the UN conventions.
The two nations have signed 173 bilateral documents, including the 1998 bilateral Treaty of Eternal Friendship and the 2013 bilateral Agreement on Strategic Partnership.
According to Review.uz, there are 151 enterprises working in Kazakhstan with the participation of Uzbek capital. At the same time, 206 enterprises operate in Uzbekistan with the participation of Kazakh capital, including 171 joint enterprises and 35 100-percent Kazakh-owned companies.
Uzbekistan exports to Kazakhstan fruits and vegetables, textile products, vehicles, services, fertilisers, building materials and other goods. In turn, Kazakhstan exports ferrous and nonferrous metals, fats and animal and vegetable origin oils.
