Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev proposed increasing mutual trade between the countries of Central Asia and Azerbaijan to $20 billion, speaking at the eighth Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia and Azerbaijan in Turkmenistan.
According to the press service of the President of Kazakhstan, Tokayev noted that intraregional trade amounted to about $13 billion last year, or around 8% of the region’s total trade turnover.
In this regard, the President proposed tasking the governments with developing and adopting a joint action plan aimed at increasing this figure to $20 billion while steadily increasing the share of mutual trade.
Tokayev noted the growing number of joint ventures, stronger business ties and the implementation of major projects in industry, mechanical engineering, energy, agriculture and other sectors. According to him, trade barriers are being gradually removed, border crossing points are being opened, and road and rail links are being expanded.
Kazakh President pointed to significant prospects for the operation of trade and logistics complexes and industrial cooperation centers being established in the border areas of the countries of the region. According to him, they could be linked in the near future to create regional value chains.
Tokayev separately focused on the development of transport infrastructure and the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route. President Tokayev highlihtged the growing demand for the Middle Corridor.
According to World Bank estimates cited by the President, if all planned infrastructure tasks are implemented, cargo traffic across the Caspian Sea could increase fourfold by 2040.
Tokayev also proposed discussing at the expert level the possibility of integrating the Middle Corridor with the TRIPP transport initiative, noting that this would expand its existing potential.
