Chief of the foreign policy department of the President’s Office of the Kyrgyz Republic Daniyar Sydykov presented the information on the most important achievements and results in foreign policy of Kyrgyzstan during the year of presidency of Sooronbay Jeenbekov, kabar.kg reports.
"Since taking office of President Sooronbay Jeenbekov, there has been a high dynamic of interaction between Kyrgyzstan and all countries of Central Asia, Russia, China, Turkey, the European Union, as well as within international and regional organizations, primarily the UN, EAEU, CSTO, SCO and the CIS," Sydykov said.
During this period, 30 visits and events were held with the participation of President Jeenbekov, 77 bilateral and 414 multilateral international documents were signed, and 7 meetings of intergovernmental commissions with foreign countries were held. Diplomatic relations with 4 foreign countries were established.
During the presidency, President Sooronbay Jeenbekov visited all countries of the Central Asian region for state and official visits - Uzbekistan (Dec. 13-14, 2017), Kazakhstan (Dec. 25-26, 2017), Tajikistan (Feb. 1-2 - 2018) and Turkmenistan (Aug. 23, 2018), during of which the state and prospects of bilateral relations and the comprehensive development of regional cooperation, including in the trade, economic and investment spheres, were discussed in detail.
A landmark event was the participation of President Jeenbekov on March 15, 2018 in Astana in the first consultative meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia, as well as participation as a guest of honor in the summit of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea, which was held on Aug. 24, 2018 in Turkmenistan in the city of Turkmenbashi.
During these meetings, the sides came to an understanding of the need for regional integration, the identification of priorities, the role and place of Central Asia in the world community.
Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan have completed the legalization of the state border by signing the Treaty on the Demarcation of the Kyrgyz-Kazakh State Border and the Agreement between the two Governments on the Regime of the Kyrgyz-Kazakh State Border.
“President Sooronbay Jeenbekov’s first foreign visit was to Russia. This once again emphasizes the invariability of the country's foreign policy towards strengthening and developing allied relations and strategic partnership with the Russian Federation,” Sydykov said.
This year, the leaders of the two countries met five times. The dynamics shows how actively the relations between the two countries are developing. “One of the results of such meetings was the decision on the application of the migration amnesty and the withdrawal of our citizens from the “black list”, said the head of the foreign policy department. “There is a tendency of growth of commodity turnover between our countries. In comparison with the last year, the growth of commodity turnover was about 19%. It is expected that the turnover will only increase,” he stressed.
Bilateral interaction with Russia also contributes to the improvement of interaction in general within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union.
“In relations with the People’s Republic of China, it should be noted that the President made his first state visit to this country and participated in the SCO Summit in Qingdao”, Sydykov said, stressing that China is one of the largest trading partners and investors for our country .
A significant result was the bringing of Kyrgyz-Chinese relations to a new level of comprehensive strategic partnership, which will allow us to more actively promote our bilateral relations in the trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres. Also, the Chinese side decided to allocate a grant of 600 million yuan for implementation of projects on creating a scientific and innovative agricultural technopark, equipping veterinary and phytosanitary laboratories, developing the Bishkek road network, and providing drinking water in remote areas of Kyrgyzstan.
The official visit of Jeenbekov to Turkey on Apr. 9–11, 2018 confirmed the intention of both sides to normalize bilateral relations.
“The establishment of personal contacts between the presidents also contributed to the intensification of bilateral relations at all levels. Only this year, the leaders of the two countries met 4 times, which is also evidence of the dynamic development of cooperation., The 4th meeting of the Supreme Council for Strategic Cooperation of Kyrgyzstan and Turkey was held after the 4-year break,” Sydykov said.
In the European direction, the strengthening of political dialogue and full cooperation between Kyrgyzstan and the European Union has been continuing. One of the significant events was Jeenbekov’s working visit to the institutions of the European Union in Apr. 2018.
“During the visit, personal contacts were established with senior management of EU institutions. A political impetus has been given to the negotiations on the draft new Agreement on expanded partnership and cooperation between Kyrgyzstan and the EU, aimed at further developing the entire spectrum of relations between Kyrgyzstan and the European Union,” Sydykov said.
During the meeting of the Kyrgyz President with the leadership of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, an agreement was reached on the allocation of a preferential credit line in the amount of €86 million, of which 36 million - in the form of a grant for projects to provide clean drinking water to the population in the regions and cities of the republic as well as irrigation development projects.
There is a trend of a qualitative expansion of the level of bilateral relations between Kyrgyzstan and Hungary. “Since the independence of Kyrgyzstan, this was the first official visit of the Hungarian Prime Minister to Kyrgyzstan. His personal participation in the work of the regular meeting of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking (CCTS) countries and the opening of the Third World Nomad Games in early September of this year was a historical event and a symbol of the rapprochement of the two peoples. The visit undoubtedly contributes to the further intensification of Kyrgyz-Hungarian relations,” said Daniyar Sydykov.
The main results were reaching an agreement on the allocation of a credit line for Kyrgyzstan by Hungarian Eximbank in the amount of €50 million and additional quota places for Kyrgyz students in Hungarian universities and the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation in the field of tourism.
Like the European direction, there is a consistent development of relations between Kyrgyzstan and the countries of Southeast and South Asia. The strengthening of relations between Kyrgyzstan and Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, Pakistan, Mongolia, Arab states and other Asian countries has a positive dynamic.
The priority direction for the national economy of Kyrgyzstan is the promotion of full-scale integration within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).
“Last year, in order to relieve tension in bilateral relations and stabilize the situation on the Kyrgyz-Kazakh border, President Jeenbekov held talks with President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, and agreements were reached on resolving issues of veterinary control between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan within the EAEU,” noted Daniyar Sydykov.
“On May 14, 2018 during the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Sochi the position of Kyrgyzstan was confirmed to continue work on a phased improvement of the conditions of stay of our citizens in Russia and Kazakhstan, to equip customs posts and checkpoints in accordance with the EAEU requirements,“ stressed the head of the foreign policy department.
“A significant event was the working visit of President Sooronbai Jeenbekov to the United States to participate in the General Debate of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly, where he informed the world community from the high rostrum about important changes in the social, political and economic life of the country, as well as about the planned reforms and strategic directions for the development of Kyrgyzstan under his leadership,” Sydykov said.
In addition, a fruitful meeting was held between President Sooronbai Jeenbekov and UN Secretary-General António Guterres, during which the sides discussed further cooperation between Kyrgyzstan and the UN, in particular, on the development of democratic institutions, improvement of the electoral system, environmental issues related to uranium tailings, as well as border issues in the Central Asian region and, in particular, the Fergana Valley.
On the margins of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly, a high-level event was held devoted to the dangers associated with the former uranium mining activities in Central Asia (New York, Sept. 27). “These activities have allowed to attract international attention to the problems of uranium tailings in Kyrgyzstan and other countries of Central Asia in order to further attract donor assistance,” Daniyar Sydykov said.
In cooperation of Kyrgyzstan with the OSCE, an autumn meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Bishkek was a significant event. "Conducting of an international forum of parliamentarians of such scale for the first time in Kyrgyzstan will strengthen parliamentarism in the country and allowed parliamentary delegations of OSCE participating states to get acquainted with the country and see the achieved level of democracy,“ said the head of the foreign policy department of the President’s Office of the Kyrgyz Republic.
On Sept. 28, 2018, President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sooronbay Jeenbekov took part in CIS Summit in Dushanbe, during which the heads of CIS member states adopted statements in connection with the 90th anniversary of Chyngyz Aitmatov and the World Nomad Games, submitted at the initiative of the Kyrgyz side.
On June 10, 2018 in Qingdao, President Sooronbay Jeenbekov took part in the SCO Summit. During this meeting, the priorities for the further development of the Organization were considered and a number of important documents were adopted in the priority areas of cooperation within the SCO.
“In Qingdao, the chairmanship in the SCO moved to the Kyrgyz side, this imposes a great responsibility on the Kyrgyz Republic for the effective development of further cooperation within this influential regional organization for the coming year,” Sydykov said.
“The Summit of Heads of State of the Turkic Council, held on Sept. 3, 2018 in the Kyrgyz Republic, was another milestone in the history of the centuries-old friendship of our peoples. This event was organized after a three-year break, and our President managed to hold this meeting with the participation of all leaders of the CCTS member countries,” the head of the foreign policy department of the President’s Office of the Kyrgyz Republic emphasized.
It should be noted that at this summit, except for all heads of states of the CCTS, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban participated for the first time as honored guests. During this Summit, the chairmanship in the CCTS was moved to Kyrgyzstan.
On Nov. 8, 2018, at the regular session of the CSTO Collective Security Council in Astana, the chairmanship of this organization also moved to Kyrgyzstan.
In this connection, the next meeting of the CSTO Collective Security Council will be held in Bishkek the next year.
“Such large-scale foreign policy events were held in the first year of the presidency of Sooronbay Jeenbekov. In addition, serious international events are planned for 2019 in our country,” he stressed.
One of the significant and successful events of international scale held in Kyrgyzstan, can be considered the Third World Nomad Games. “The presidents of Kazakhstan, Turkey, Tatarstan (Russia) and the Prime Minister of Hungary, other high-ranking guests from many countries of the world took part in the opening of the games, which is evidence of the support of the country's foreign policy by the international partners of Kyrgyzstan,” concluded Sydykov.