Azernews.Az

By Gunay Hasanova

Ankara and Astana have formed a good relationship over the recent years, equally benefiting both sides in numerous ways. This relationship is expected to gain further depth and width in the near future.

Kazakh Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu now agreed to expand trade and economic cooperation, the Kazakh foreign ministry reported on October 20.

The meeting of two ministers took place in Kazakh city of Almaty within the third meeting of the Joint Strategic Planning Group of two countries.

“The foreign ministers agreed to actively promote the expansion of trade and economic relations between the two countries, and facilitate the effective work of the Kazakh-Turkish Intergovernmental Economic Commission,” the ministry said.

During the meeting, the sides also discussed cooperation in tourism, transport, and logistics, military-technical and defense industry, and fight against extremism and terrorism. Special attention was paid to the implementation of the agreements reached during the visit of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev to Turkey in April and August 2016, as well as to preparation for the meeting of the Strategic Cooperation Council under the heads of two countries scheduled for next year.

The parties also discussed cooperation in the investment sphere and prospects of the creation of joint Kazakh-Turkish investment and infrastructure funds which will invest in joint projects. I

drissov invited Turkish companies to work in Kazakhstan and noted that it will open them access to the markets of the Eurasian Economic Union, Central Asia, Russia, and China.

Idrissov and Cavusoglu exchanged views on topical international and regional issues, including the situation in Afghanistan, Syria, and Ukraine. They expressed mutual interest in strengthening the cooperation within the framework of such multilateral formats as the UN, CICA, OIC, Turkic Council and others.

The bilateral trade volume between two countries reached $ 2.14 billion in total in 2015, with the export of $741 million and the import of $1.27 billion. The countries aim to increase the bilateral trade volume to the level of $10 billion.

The amount of international direct investment from Kazakhstan to Turkey is $681 million, according to the data of November 2015 of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey.

Moreover, projects of Turkish construction firms in Kazakhstan exceeded $21 billion.

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Gunay Hasanova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @gunhasanova

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