BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. CIS markets are traditionally a priority for Kazakhstan, the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said at a meeting of the Council of CIS Heads of State in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), TurkicWorld reports.
Tokayev urged the participants of the meeting to continue active cooperation in the CIS format to overcome emerging challenges, search for new areas to strengthen productive cooperation.
"The key task is to develop close trade and economic ties. According to the results of last year, the CIS countries account for more than a quarter of Kazakhstan's foreign trade turnover. This positive trend continues this year. Kazakhstan's trade turnover increased by 4.5 percent in seven months and amounted to $20.5 billion. We need to make full use of the available opportunities to further strengthen trade ties," the president of Kazakhstan said.
He said special attention should be paid to removing trade barriers, creating favorable tariff conditions and simplifying administrative procedures.
Meetings of the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in narrow and expanded structures were held in the capital of Kyrgyzstan today.