Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, July 12
By Huseyn Hasanov – Trend:
Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov has met with Kazakh Ambassador to Turkmenistan Zhandos Asanov, Trend reports with reference to Turkmen Foreign Ministry.
The sides discussed the possibility of organizing visits at the highest level and topical issues related to the ties between the two countries in the political-diplomatic, trade-economic and cultural-humanitarian spheres, the report said.
Diplomats also drew attention to the effectiveness of the activities of the joint intergovernmental Turkmen-Kazakh commission on economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation, the regular meeting of which was held in March this year.
In particular, the parties noted the growth of trade between the two countries, which has a positive effect on the development of bilateral economic ties. The sides noted the existence of significant potential for building up interaction in trade, economy, transport, communications and energy sector.
Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan are strategic partners, as evidenced by the treaty signed in April 2017 in Astana.
Ashgabat and Astana regularly discuss partnership in the gas sector and the development of cross-border mineral deposits. Kazakhstan is involved in a major project for the delivery of Central Asian gas to China. China National Petroleum Corporation has been purchasing Turkmen fuel through the territory of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan from 2009.
Transportation sector is among other significant areas of cooperation. Thanks to the project on construction of transnational Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway, which was completed in December 2014, goods can be transported without any restrictions to the countries of the Persian Gulf, to the Indian Ocean and to Europe.
In 2016, Kazakhstan joined the Central Asia-Middle East (Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Iran-Oman) transport corridor project. It will allow the Central Asian countries to connect to the ports of the Persian and Oman gulfs through optimal routes.