President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov, within the framework of of his first state visit to Kazakhstan, held narrow format talks with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Astana on Saturday, the Press Service of the President of Kazakhstan said in its statement.
Welcoming the Turkmen President, the Head of Kazakhstan stated that the peoples of the two countries are linked by historical and fraternal ties, and this is of great importance for the further development of Kazakh-Turkmen cooperation.
"Turkmenistan is a brotherly state for Kazakhstan, we share a common border and a common history. We have much in common in the field of culture, humanitarian ties, and, of course, economic interests," Tokayev stated.
During the talks, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Serdar Berdimuhamedov discussed the prospects of development of the Kazakh-Turkmen cooperation. The talks focused on the expansion of trade-economic cooperation, including in the energy, transport and logistics, industry and agriculture.
President Berdimuhamedov thanked Kassym-Jomart Tokayev for the invitation to visit Kazakhstan and the warm hospitality.
"This is my first state visit to the Republic of Kazakhstan. We consider this visit an important stage in the development of bilateral relations between our countries," President Serdar Berdimuhamedov said.
Tokayev said, "As for trade and economic cooperation, today we talked about how we could increase volumes through joint efforts,", adding that a list of goods that could be delivered to Turkmenistan's market has been prepared.
According to the Kazakh President, trade turnover between the two countries could increase significantly.
"We could strive to reach $1 billion in mutual trade," the Tokayev added.
The Head of Turkmenistan also noted that this year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.
"Over these years, the relations between the two countries have been successfully developing in a wide range of areas. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on this anniversary date," Serdar Berdimuhamedov added.
The Head of Turkmenistan passed on to Kassym-Jomart Tokayev the words of greetings and good wishes of Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, the Chairman of Halk Maslakhaty chamber of Turkmen bicameral parliament Milli Gengesh.
Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov attended the CIS and Central Asia-Russia summits in Astana on Friday.
