ASTANA—President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov reiterated their commitment to advancing strategic partnership during a May 27 meeting, reported the Akorda press service.
Rashid Meredov and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Photo credit: Akorda
During the talks, Tokayev noted a steady growth of the Kazakh-Turkmen relationship in the spirit of friendliness, good neighborliness, and strategic partnership.
“Being a state that shares a similar spirit and history with us, Turkmenistan is Kazakhstan’s reliable strategic partner. Indeed, in recent years, our nations’ collaboration has grown and taken on new dimensions, particularly in key economic areas,” the President noted.
In turn, Meredov expressed gratitude for the warm welcome and confirmed Ashgabat’s commitment to enhancing bilateral cooperation with Astana across interstate relations.
The sides reviewed the progress of implementing major projects in the trade, economic, energy, transport and logistics sectors, noting the importance of bringing them to their logical conclusion. Cultural and humanitarian ties were also addressed during the meeting.
Rashid Meredov and Murat Nurtleu. Photo credit: Foreign Ministry
As part of the visit, Meredov met with Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu.
During the meeting, the sides discussed a wide range of topics pertaining to Kazakh-Turkmen cooperation, including the state and prospects of interaction in the political, transit, transport, energy and cultural and humanitarian spheres, focusing on trade and economic cooperation. Over the past five years, the volume of mutual trade between Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan has increased almost fourfold. In 2023, this figure showed an increase of 28%, reaching $563 million.
“In January-March, the volume of trade between the two countries exceeded $100 million. Positive trends inspire great confidence in the fulfillment of the task set by the Presidents to increase our mutual trade to $1 billion in the near future,” said Nurtleu.
Addressing the transit and transport sector, the sides praised the work along theKazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway, which potential is increasing every year. Last year, transportation volume between countries increased by 20%, reaching 1.3 million tons.
The sides noted the significant potential for cooperation in the energy sector, including the prospects for implementing joint projects. Nurtleu and Meredov expressed readiness to promote the development of effective interaction in this area.
“Turkmenistan supports Kazakhstan in the implementation of all its initiatives and recommendations at the global and regional level. I am confident that our today’s negotiations will contribute to the advancement of cooperation between Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan,” said Meredov.
This year, the Days of Culture of Turkmenistan will be held in Astana, and the Days of Culture of Kazakhstan will be held in Ashgabat. As part of the festivities, there will be artistic group performances and the official unveiling of monuments honoring notable poets from both nations, Abai Kunanbayev and Magtymguly Fragi.
