Head of State receives EU Special Representative for Central Asia

NUR-SULTAN. KAZINFORM – President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev received EU Special Representative for Central Asia Terhi Hakala, Kazinform has learnt from the Akorda press service.

At the onset of the meeting, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev extended his congratulations to Terhi Hakala on her appointment as the EU Special Representative for Central Asia whishing her success in her further work.

Terhi Hakala, in her turn, conveyed European Council President Charles Michel’s message to President Tokayev in which the former confirmed the invitation to the Kazakh leader to visit Brussels until the end of this end.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev continued by positively assessing the current state of strategic cooperation between Kazakhstan and the European Union, which gathered momentum with coming into effect of the new Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement in March 2020.

The Head of State said that Kazakhstan highly values dynamic trade, economic and investment ties with the European Union. In his words, Kazakhstan is the leading trade partner of the EU in Central Asia. Following results of 2020, the two-way trade reached almost $24 billion.

The Kazakh President and the EU Special Representative for Central Asia named renewable energy, high technologies, infrastructure and healthcare among the most promising areas for cooperation in the post-crisis period.

They also paid utmost attention to the situation in Afghanistan. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev expressed concern over the threats caused by the change in the military and political situation in Afghanistan. The participants of the meeting spoke in favor of the speediest restoration of stability and public order in the entire territory of Afghanistan. The sides agreed to maintain contacts regarding the problem given its importance to the relations between the Central Asian states and the EU.

During the meeting, Terhi Hakala welcomed the upcoming 12^th WTO Ministerial Conference in Geneva chaired by Kazakhstan.

The sides also exchanged views on the state and prospects of interaction in Central Asia, especially within the context of the results of the 3^rd Consultative Meeting of Leaders of the Central Asian countries in Turkmenistan.