BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 3. Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Ali Asadov met with his Kazakh counterpart Olzhas Bektenov, who is on an official visit to Baku at Asadov's invitation, on March 3, Trend reports via the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers.
Initially, the government heads held one-on-one talks, during which they discussed current issues on the bilateral agenda.
Afterward, Asadov and Bektenov continued the meeting with the participation of the delegations of both countries.
The meeting confirmed the mutual commitment to further strengthen and expand the mutually beneficial cooperation between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.
Asadov thanked Bektenov for the prompt response of the Kazakhstani government to the search and rescue operation following the crash of an AZAL (Azerbaijan Airlines) plane near Aktau, as well as for assistance in investigating the causes of the disaster.
The parties noted that thanks to the joint efforts of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the strategic partnership between the two countries is developing comprehensively.
It was emphasized that reciprocal visits and high-level meetings create a basis for effective cooperation across all areas of relations between the two countries.
Gratitude was expressed to the President of Kazakhstan for the
school of the Kurmangazi Children's Creativity Development Center
in the city of Fuzuli, Azerbaijan, which saw the light of day last
March with both heads of state in attendance.
Asadov made it clear that Azerbaijan holds the reins when it comes
to nurturing a robust and fruitful partnership with Kazakhstan,
leaving no stone unturned in their quest for comprehensive
development.
The government heads raised a toast to the rich tapestry of
bilateral cooperation, woven together in a robust legal framework
of 165 documents.
The parties praised the high level of economic and trade cooperation. It was noted that, based on the results of the previous year, the volume of mutual trade amounted to nearly $500 million, and it was confirmed that joint efforts would continue to increase trade volume, considering the economic development level and potential of both countries. In this regard, the importance of implementing the 2022-2026 Comprehensive Program for the development of cooperation was emphasized.
The parties highlighted the importance of developing investment cooperation and expressed satisfaction with the creation of a joint investment fund to support mutually beneficial projects.
The issues of expanding the range of agricultural products and increasing mutual supply volumes were also discussed.
The development of transport and logistics connections was identified as one of the priority areas of cooperation. The increase in transit cargo transportation between the two countries by 21 percent by the end of 2024 was welcomed. Railway transit transportation has increased by 33 percent.
The parties confirmed their mutual commitments to ensure the implementation of the orders of the heads of state regarding the development of the Middle Corridor.
Information was provided to the Kazakh side about the work being done by Azerbaijan to improve all international transport corridors passing through its territory. In this context, the importance of launching the Zangezur corridor, which can make a significant contribution to the expansion of the Middle Corridor, was emphasized.
It was noted that there are good prospects in the shipbuilding sector. Azerbaijan expressed its readiness to offer its shipbuilding capabilities to Kazakhstan.
The parties welcomed their joint efforts to promote the strategic communication project "Digital Silk Road," aimed at creating a digital telecommunications corridor between Europe and Asia.
The positive development of cooperation in the oil and gas sector was noted, and the government heads expressed satisfaction with mutual cooperation in the transit of Kazakh oil to third-country markets via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.
The relevance of cooperation in the field of green energy was highlighted. Asadov said that Azerbaijan attaches great importance to promoting the climate agenda, with the COP29 conference being a prime example of this.
The government heads touched on cooperation issues in the Caspian Sea and praised the results of the 3rd Caspian Economic Forum held in Iran in February. Ali Asadov expressed Azerbaijan's serious concerns over the shallowing of the Caspian Sea and thanked the Kazakh side for supporting the creation of an expert group to identify and address the causes of the shallowing, as proposed by the President of Azerbaijan.
Special attention was paid to cooperation in laying deep-sea energy cables along the seabed of the Caspian. In this regard, the importance of the signing of the Agreement on Strategic Partnership in the Development and Transmission of Green Energy between the Presidents of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan within the framework of COP29 was emphasized.
The parties positively assessed the pace of development of cooperation in the cultural and humanitarian fields and welcomed the restoration of the tradition of holding reciprocal Culture Days. It was noted that exchanges in education, science, healthcare, and sports have been successfully implemented. Ali Asadov wished success to Kazakh athletes at the III CIS Games, which will be held in Ganja and other cities of Azerbaijan in September-October this year. The positive dynamics of the growth of mutual tourist flows were also noted.
The government heads discussed the prospects for developing mutually beneficial cooperation in other areas of mutual interest between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.
After the talks, documents were signed regarding cooperation in the field of mandatory health insurance, the formation of a list of scientific publications, and the approval of an agreement on laying fiber-optic communication lines along the Caspian Sea bed.
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