ASTANA – Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu discussed multifaceted cooperation with Uzbek Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov at the first meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers during his working visit to Khiva on March 20, reported the Foreign Ministry’s press service.
Kazakhstan remains one of Uzbekistan’s top three trading partners, with annual trade exceeding $4 billion. The ministers emphasized the importance of implementing the previously signed program to increase trade turnover to $10 billion by 2030 and accelerating the launch of the Central Asia International Industrial Cooperation Center.
They also welcomed the opening of the Kazakhstan Trade Pavilion in the Airitom free economic zone in Termez, highlighting opportunities to expand trade with Afghanistan.
The ministers discussed water and energy partnership, including progress on the trilateral Kambar-Ata-1 hydroelectric power plant project.
Regarding education, they noted the success of Kazakh and Uzbek university branches, including Auezov South Kazakhstan State University in Chirchik and the Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers in Almaty.
The ministers reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening interregional ties, enhancing transport and logistics through the Middle Corridor, and expanding cultural, humanitarian, and tourism cooperation.
