Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov held talks with his Georgian counterpart Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on the margins of his official visit to the country, El.kz reports with reference to primeminister.kz.
During the meeting the sides discussed the issues of trade and economic cooperation, expanding mutual investment and business contacts, development of tourist potential of the two countries, launching new flights as well as interaction in cultural and humanitarian spheres.
Alikhan Smailov noted that thanks to concerted efforts Kazakhstan and Georgia currently demonstrate a record level of two-way trade which, in his words, spiked from $31.7 million to $147.7 million or 4.7-fold compared to the last year’s analogous period.
"We have all the capabilities and tools to maintain positive dynamics. I am confident that the Roadmap signed today to expand the range of mutual trade turnover for 2023-2026 will give an additional incentive to mutual trade," the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan said.
For his part, Irakli Garibashvili emphasized that Kazakhstan and Georgia can potentially expand cooperation in many avenues, including food security and cargo transportation.
“Kazakhstan and his country enjoy positive dynamics in trade, investment and business cooperation. «There are many examples of successful cooperation within the framework of joint projects. However, there is room for growth and it is high time to explore new opportunities and mutually profitable areas for cooperation,» he added.
The sides continued by pointing out the strategic importance of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TMTM) for the two nations. To increase the route’s competitiveness, it was suggested lifting the limitations in infrastructure on railway sections and sea ports and reconsider current tariffs.
"This project is of strategic importance for our countries. Kazakhstan supports all initiatives to develop the transit and transport potential of the region while balancing the interests of stakeholders. In general, in order to increase the capacity of TITR, we propose, together with other participants of the route, to develop a Roadmap for the synchronous elimination of "bottlenecks" and the development of its potential for 2022-2025," Alikhan Smailov emphasized.
In addition, the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan emphasized the importance of developing the tourism potential between our countries, including in terms of eco- and ethno-tourism.
Today, Kazakhstan operates 34 direct flights to Georgia. At the same time, an open skies regime for foreign airlines has been introduced at 12 airports of the Republic of Kazakhstan, within the framework of which it is planned to remove all restrictions on the number of flights.
Following the meeting, the parties signed a number of bilateral documents: the Roadmap for expanding the range of mutual trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Georgia for 2023-2026, the Memorandum of Understanding between the international technopark of IT startups "Astana Hub" and the Agency of Technologies and Innovations of Georgia, as well as the Cooperation Agreement between JSC "NC "Kazakhstan Temir Zholy" and JSC "Georgian Railway".