Kazakhstan, Turkey on pace to surpass $10 billion in trade
Astana, Oct 12 (EFE).- Kazakhstan and Turkey are making progress in reaching their goal of exceeding $10 billion in trade, visiting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday in the Kazakh capital, Astana.
“We agreed to bring trade revenues up to $5 billion in the short term and up to $10 billion in the medium term. So far everything is going according to plan,” Erdogan said in a meeting with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and their respective delegations in the framework of the IV High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council meeting.
Erdogan explained that Turkish-Kazakh cooperation in the transport and logistics sector “allows us to achieve our medium-term goals in a short time.”
Trade between the two countries rose 33% in 2021 to $4.1 billion.
Tokayev pointed out that during the last 15 years Ankara has invested $4.35 billion in Kazakhstan and the Central Asian country in turn $1.13 billion in Turkey.
Turkey, Tokayev said, is among the 10 largest investors in Kazakhstan, and transit and transportation ties between the two countries play an important role in creating greater trade potential.
In this regard, he urged the development of the Trans-Caspian Corridor to reduce transportation costs and delivery times.
In turn, Erdogan argued that, in a period of global and regional instability, it is necessary to strengthen the interaction of the Turkic states, and that, therefore, guaranteeing security, stability, territorial integrity, and improving the economic well-being of Kazakhstan is of particular importance.
Erdogan also said that as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine to ensure Ukrainian grain exports to ensure global food security, “the potential of wheat-rich Kazakhstan” can be used.
Tokayev, who presented his Turkish counterpart with the Order of Friendship of the first degree, noted that Turkey’s authority in the world has increased and that Kazakhstan supports Erdogan’s initiatives to resolve global crises and regional problems.
As a result of the negotiations, the delegations signed two agreements and four memorandums of understanding. EFE
kk-mos/fpa/jrh
