Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov held negotiations with Akylbek Japarov, Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers – Head of the Presidential Administration of Kyrgyzstan, El.kz reports with reference to the press service of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The meeting took place in Almaty on the eve of the meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council. During the meeting, it was noted that Kyrgyzstan is a strategic partner and fraternal state for Kazakhstan.
"Thanks to the political will of our leaders, today Kazakh-Kyrgyz relations are at a qualitatively new level," the Prime Minister said.
The Head of Government also noted the progressive development of trade and economic cooperation between the countries. In the first 11 months of last year alone, mutual trade grew by 12% and reached $1.3 billion. At the same time, Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic continue to work together to bring the volume of trade to $2 billion.
"This is facilitated by the effective activities of bilateral cooperation mechanisms, such as the Intergovernmental Council and the Interregional Cooperation Forum. The Government of Kazakhstan is ready to further support the Kazakh-Kyrgyz strategic partnership in all areas," Alikhan Smailov emphasized.
For his part, Akylbek Japarov noted that the current relations between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan confirm the high level of political dialogue.
"The volume of mutual trade and investment is growing every year, and business, scientific and cultural ties are intensifying. Within the framework of the Intergovernmental Council, common strategic goals, conceptual approaches and directions for the long-term development of Kyrgyz-Kazakh cooperation are discussed. Active cooperation between our countries is carried out on multilateral platforms," he said.
During the meeting, the heads of government considered a wide range of issues of bilateral cooperation, including in the trade, economic and oil and gas industries. In addition, the parties agreed to work out the issue of opening an additional checkpoint for trucks on the Kazakh-Kyrgyz border as soon as possible, as well as to strengthen cooperation in the water and energy sector.