ASTANA, Kazakhstan, August 9. Joint transport projects can become growth points for Central Asian economies, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said during the sixth Consultative Meeting of Central Asian Heads of State in Astana today, TurkicWorld reports via Akorda.
"New growth points for the economies of our countries could be large-scale joint infrastructure and transport projects. There are already good examples of such mutually beneficial cooperation in the region. These include the Kambarata-1 Hydropower Plant in Kyrgyzstan, the Rogun Hydropower Plant in Tajikistan, gas projects in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, the construction of new transport corridors, and several other important projects.
A priority is the development of trade, logistics and industrial hubs in border regions. It's necessary to reinforce our comprehensive partnership with new agreements in promising sectors such as agriculture, logistics, textile and chemical industries, and construction," he explained.
Another pressing task, according to Tokayev, is the formation of a solid economic base for multilateral interaction.
"Significant results have been achieved in this direction in recent years. The volume of intra-regional trade has steadily increased, reaching $11 billion," he stated.
The president of Kazakhstan emphasized the importance of boosting trade turnover and raising it to $15 billion in the foreseeable future.
To note, high-level discussions within the sixth Consultative Meeting of Central Asian Heads of State are covering current issues of multilateral cooperation and prospects for regional interaction.
