Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan hold inaugural meeting of Council of Foreign Ministers in Khiva

The event was joined by Kazakh and Uzbek Foreign Ministers Murat Nurtleu and Bakhtiyor Saidov.

Addressing the meeting, Nurtleu said, ‘the relations between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have reached their highest level in all areas’.

The two Central Asian states signed treaties on allied relations and state border demarcation during the December 2022 state visit of Kazakh leader Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to Tashkent. As part of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s state visit to Astana last year, the first meeting of the Supreme Interstate Council took place as well as the Partnership and Alliance Program for the next 10 years was signed.

The Kazakh diplomat pointed out that Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan traded goods for four billion dollars last year, as both countries eye up to 10 billion US dollars in trade. The countries also seek to promote investment in each other.

The meeting’s participants focused on the ongoing issues of bilateral relationship and cooperation within international organizations, including trade-economic and investment cooperation, water management, energy, industry and transport communications.

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are building 78 industrial facilities, of which 12 worth around 220 million US dollars are already operational, with the remaining projects are slated for launch before 2030.

The Central Asian states also eye a transport-logistics hub at their border to boost transit-transport potential, increase shipping from China to Europe via Uzbekistan as well as provide a more profitable shipping route to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

Following the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the protocol describing all the agreements reached and the specific tasks was signed.

The countries agreed to hold the next meeting of the Council in August this year in Kazakhstan’s Burabay.