President of Kazakhstan meets heads of state of Central Asia

In early August President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took part in the Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia. He delivered a speech to the assembled heads of state, which included President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Central Asia Natalya German, writes Colin Stevens.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev noted the symbolism of the meeting, which takes place in the year of the 30th anniversary of the independence of the Central Asian countries. During this time, they have achieved great progress in state building, achieved significant success in socio-economic development, revived the spiritual and cultural heritage.

According to him, today the world is going through a difficult period. The current situation in Afghanistan is of particular concern. The situation is further exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev believes that this requires joint steps from the countries of the region to ensure sustainable development of Central Asia at a new stage.

As a successful example of cooperation, the President cited the creation by Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan on the common border of the International Centre for Trade and Economic Cooperation "Central Asia". He called on his colleagues to unite efforts to attract investment in strategically important sectors of the regional economy.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called the transfer of national economies to an innovative digital platform an uncontested way of development. He also said that Kazakhstan is actively implementing projects for the digitalization of industry, energy, transport, social sphere, as well as the development of smart cities.

In his opinion, the states of the region act as a connecting bridge between Asia and Europe. And in this direction, Kazakhstan is consistently developing transit capabilities of the Trans-Caspian international transport corridor. In addition, the potential of the Kazakhstani section of the China-Europe-China transcontinental route is being strengthened.

Over the past three years, the flow of containers along the trans-Caspian routes has grown more than 13 times. Based on the port of Aktau, Kazakhstan plans to create a "container hub" with the involvement of the world's leading operators (Cosco, Maersk, CMA CGM, etc.). The country is open for mutually beneficial cooperation in the development of transport communications within the region.

The head of state believes that one of the key issues for Central Asia is the provision of water resources, the preservation of the region's bio- and ecosystems.

The president noted in his speech the conditions of tests caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and how the Kazakh peoples showed unity and mutual assistance.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev believes that such challenges as terrorism, religious extremism, drug trafficking, and transnational crime remain urgent.

Cultural and humanitarian interaction plays a decisive role in the further rapprochement of the fraternal peoples. The head of state spoke for the preservation and strengthening of family ties, the constant filling of the cultural and humanitarian agenda with new content. Kazakhstan also supports the expansion of interaction in the field of education.

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