Azernews.Az

By Gunay Hasanova

Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia seek to expand their bilateral relations through cooperation in a number of promising projects.

The two countries signed more than 10 agreements worth over 60 billion tenges ($181.55 million) as part of the official visit of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev to Saudi Arabia on October 24- 25, the presidential press-service reported.

Nazarbayev, addressing a briefing on the results of the visit, stated that the agreements had been signed in the energy sector, mining industry, agriculture and trade.

Moreover, Nazarbayev said that Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia have agreed to create a bilateral intergovernmental commission and working groups in different economic spheres in order to develop fruitful cooperation in the future.

The parties also agreed to establish a joint investment fund to finance joint projects in Kazakhstan, the president said.

Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia enjoy deep political and economic relations.The two countries intend to deepen cooperation and economic interaction, as both countries possess huge potential for economic interaction, especially in agriculture, petrochemistry, atomic industry, defense and technical cooperation

Several projects in Astana were built with the support of Saudi Arabia, such as new Heart Centre and Cadet School. A new Tuberculosis Centre will be built in Semey.

The Kazakhstan -Saudi Arabia trade turnover comprised $16.3 million in 2015.There is 17 Kazakh-Saudi joint enterprise functioning today in the country.

Mining-metallurgical production, petrochemistry, agriculture, financial and Islamic banking, atomic industry and other spheres are considered as the promising spheres of cooperation between the two countries.

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

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