ASTANA – Kazakhstan is ready to increase exports to Tajikistan by approximately $190 million, Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu said at a Jan. 25 meeting with Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Mukhriddin during his official visit to Dushanbe, reported the Kazakh Foreign Ministry’s press service.
Murat Nurtleu with Sirojiddin Mukhriddin. Photo credit: gov.kz
This initiative includes commitments to supply railway locomotives and cars, rail and beam products, flour, and creating conditions for cooperative ties.
Kazakhstan is one of Tajikistan’s top three trading partners, with bilateral trade exceeding $1 billion in recent years. Nurtleu highlighted the progress achieved in cooperation in trade, energy, mining, uranium industries, agriculture, and transport and logistics.
As was reported during the talks, digital technologies are becoming a new driver of interaction, with Kazakhstan transferring IT products of the eGov platform to Tajikistan worth $2.8 million in December.
The ministers agreed to promote collaboration in this area further, planning to train 100 Tajik specialists in advanced Kazakh IT schools.
They discussed regional cooperation, joint efforts to enhance peace and stability in Central Asia, and participation in the Consultative Meetings of the Heads of State of Central Asia and the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea.
The cultural and humanitarian sphere has become an important part of the bilateral agenda, with proposals exchanged to expand cooperation in education, science, culture, medicine, and sports.
The parties outlined plans to hold the Days of Culture of Kazakhstan in Tajikistan this year.
The Kazakh side also reported that the Kazakhstan Agency for International Development will soon organize educational courses for young diplomats from Central Asian countries and internships for medical workers.
Nurtleu took part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the monument to Ismoil Somoni, a 10th-century Samanid ruler, and visited the National Museum of Tajikistan.
