On April 15, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev visited Armenia and held negotiations in Yerevan with Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan.
Speaking to journalists after the talks, Tokayev said it was his first official visit to Yerevan and emphasized that Armenia is a very important and reliable partner of Kazakhstan in the South Caucasus.
“Our relationship is based on unshakable friendship and mutual support. Activating bilateral ties is our common goal. Our interests in strengthening regional and international security and interaction coincide. We are interested in further developing a comprehensive partnership with Armenia,” the Kazakh president said.
Tokayev said his talks with Pashinyan focused on expanding bilateral relations in the trade, economic and investment spheres, adding that over the past five years, the volume of mutual trade has been growing steadily.
“We came to a common opinion that it is necessary to look for new directions that will give impetus to the growth of trade turnover. Kazakhstan is ready to increase the volume of exports to Armenia to $350 million,” the Kazakh president said.
He emphasized the importance of intensifying cooperation in the fields of industry, construction, transport and logistics, agriculture, finance, innovation, and tourism, and invited the Armenian side to implement joint investment projects.
“This is especially relevant in today’s difficult geopolitical and geo-economic situation,” Tokayev added.
According to the Kazakh president, the development of the transport and logistics sector is one of the key areas for strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation. Kazakhstan highly appreciates Armenia’s readiness to restore transit communications in the South Caucasus.
“In this regard, we welcome the ‘Crossroads of Peace’ initiative of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. We also supported the proposal to open direct flights between the capitals and other cities of our countries,” Tokayev said.
The key essence of the ‘Crossroads of Peace’ project is the development of communications between Armenia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Iran by means of renovating, building, and operating roads, railways, pipelines, cables, and electricity lines.
The prime minister of Armenia emphasized the importance of the agreements reached during the negotiations with Kazakhstan.
“We have identified further prospects for strengthening our cooperation, including in the field of transport and logistics. We agree that despite the constant growth in trade turnover, there is still unrealized potential for the development of trade and economic cooperation,” said Pashinyan.
Photo: akorda.kz
