Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Aug. 22
By Huseyn Hasanov – Trend:
President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev met with Turkmen Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov, Trend reports on Aug. 22 referring to Turkmen Foreign Ministry.
The parties expressed gratification with the Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan relations and stressed the importance of developing bilateral ties in a wide range of spheres.
Meredov also met with Kazakh Foreign Minister Beibut Atamkulov.
Earlier it was reported that the two countries are discussing the possibility of organizing visits at the highest level. The neighboring countries stressed the great potential for enhancing cooperation in the trade and economic sphere, transport and communications sector, energy.
Kazakhstan is involved in a major project for the delivery of Central Asian gas to China. The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has been buying Turkmen fuel since 2009, with the fuel being transported through the territories of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
The project for the construction of the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran transnational railway was completed in December 2014. According to preliminary calculations, the annual volume of freight traffic may eventually reach 10-12 million tons. On this trade route, freight can be freely transported to Gulf countries, to the Indian Ocean, and can be exported to Europe.
Kazakhstan joined the Central Asia – Middle East (Uzbekistan – Turkmenistan – Iran – Oman) transport corridor project in 2016. The new corridor will enable access to the ports of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman for Central Asian countries through an optimal route in the future.