ASTANA: Foreign Ministers of Central Asian states convened ahead of the sixth consultative meeting of the heads of state of Central Asia on Aug. 9 to review prospects for deepening regional cooperation and further development of five-sided interaction, reported the Kazakh Foreign Ministry’s press service.
Kazakh Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu highlighted that the combined GDP of the Central Asian countries now stands at nearly $450 billion, with mutual trade increasing by 80% to $11 billion over the past five years. The region has established mechanisms for interaction between parliaments, Security Councils, and industry departments and initiated the Dialogue of Women Leaders.
Nurtleu noted that this year marked a new level of practical cooperation among the countries, with the Council of National Coordinators commencing its activities. The progress in regional cooperation has attracted significant interest from the international community and support from strategic partners.
According to Nurtleu, the results of the Central Asia Plus meetings, which included participation from China, Russia, the United States, India, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Italy, and various multilateral organizations, demonstrate the progress made. As chair, Kazakhstan has actively worked to enhance the effectiveness of the consultative meetings, marking the first time that Secretaries of Security Councils, Ministers of Energy and Information, and the Forum of Historians of Central Asian countries have met.
“In this regard, I express my gratitude for the support of Kazakhstan’s initiatives and fruitful joint work on the preparation of a number of documents in industry, energy, transport, and logistics,” he said.
