Turkmenistan approves composition of joint intergovernmental commission with Kazakhstan

None
None
ASHGABAT. KAZINFORM President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov signed a resolution approving the composition of the intergovernmental Turkmen-Kazakh commission on economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation from the Turkmen side.

The document was signed in order to further develop the partnership between Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, expand bilateral trade, economic, scientific, technical and cultural ties, Trend reports.

In early May, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov at a meeting in Ashgabat with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Yerzhan Ashikbayev discussed issues of cooperation in the Caspian Sea. Ashgabat and Astana are discussing the prospects of trade and economic partnership, the development of the legal framework, cooperation in the gas sphere, in the field of agriculture, in the development of cross-border mineral deposits, and in the field of transport, the environment and fisheries.

Kazakhstan is involved in a major project to deliver Central Asian gas to China. CNPC has been purchasing Turkmen fuel since 2009 through the territories of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

In addition, in December 2014, the project for the construction of the transnational railway Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran was completed.

According to preliminary calculations, the annual volume of transportation may eventually amount to 10-12 million tons of cargo.

Along this trade route, goods can be freely transported to the countries of the Persian Gulf, to the Indian Ocean, and exported to Europe. In 2016, Kazakhstan joined the Central Asia-Middle East transport corridor project (Uzbekistan - Turkmenistan - Iran - Oman).

The new corridor will allow the Central Asian countries to connect with the Persian and Omani ports along the optimal route in the future.

Currently reading