Azernews.Az

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Kyrgyzstan and EU discussed key aspects of cooperation, in particular, negotiations were held on a draft new agreement on expanded partnership.

The 16th meeting of the Kyrgyzstan-EU Cooperation Council was held in the city of Brussels on December 10, press service of the Kyrgyz Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported.

“The European side highly appreciated the democratic changes in Kyrgyzstan, in particular, the development of parliamentary democracy in the country and expressed support for the ongoing reforms of the electoral and judicial systems, as well as law enforcement agencies. EU representatives noted the importance of further development of cooperation in the field of ensuring human rights and the development of civil society in Kyrgyzstan,” the message says.

The European side reaffirmed the planned allocation of 36 million euros to the education sector of Kyrgyzstan and announced the decision to allocate the second tranche of 5.75 million euros and the remainder of the first tranche of 750,000 euros protection of Kyrgyzstan.

In addition, the parties discussed the results of the meeting of EU-Central Asian foreign ministers, which was held in Brussels on November 23, 2018. Minister Chyngyz Aidarbekov confirmed the support of the Kyrgyz side for the EU-developed new strategy on Central Asia, which is expected to be adopted in 2019.

During the meeting, the parties also discussed issues of trade and economic cooperation, taking into account the status of Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP+). The Kyrgyz side noted its readiness to export environmentally friendly products to European markets that meet quality and safety standards. “The importance of attracting investments from the European Union countries to the economy of Kyrgyzstan was also noted, and due to the status of the GSP +, the country's trade turnover with the EU has more than tripled since 2016”, the message says.

In addition, during the meeting, the parties exchanged views on issues of the international and regional agenda.

Kyrgyzstan received the GSP+ status in January 2016. It allows exporting more than 6,000 items of goods to the European market on a duty-free basis. Previously, customs duty for Kyrgyz exporters was 14.6 percent for some types of fruits and vegetables and 5-9 percent for clothing.

The partnership between the EU and Kyrgyzstan is based on the republic's commitment to undertake reforms to strengthen democracy, fundamental freedoms, the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary, and to promote sustainable economic development. EU has supported the Kyrgyz Republic in these efforts through its long-term development cooperation, including support to the reform of its electoral system.

EU is currently discussing with the Government of Kyrgyzstan a new program of budget assistance in the amount of 35.760 million euros for the period 2019-2021 to help in the implementation of reforms and relevant indicators presented in the Action Plan of the Education Development Strategy for 2018-2020. This program is also funded under the assistance program for 2014-2020.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

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