The event was also attended by the Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan, President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, President of Iran Hassan Rouhani, President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Zhaparov, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Secretary General of the Economic Cooperation Organization Hadi Suleimanpur.
At the beginning of his speech, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev expressed gratitude to the Turkish people and President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan for the assistance provided to our country in the fight against the pandemic. As the Head of State noted, in the current difficult time, our countries have again become convinced of how important mutual assistance and support at the global level are.
The main focus of the presentation was on overcoming the negative economic consequences of the pandemic.
"Thanks to the implementation of a comprehensive anti-crisis plan, backed by financial resources, Kazakhstan was able to minimize the negative impact of the pandemic and even achieved growth in areas such as construction, agriculture and manufacturing. This year we expect GDP growth by more than 3 percent," the President said. Kazakhstan.
The head of state called cooperation with the ECO one of the priorities of Kazakhstan's foreign policy. In his opinion, large infrastructure and social projects should become the basis for interaction within the organization. One of the most promising projects is the Trans-Caspian international transport route, which is being formed jointly with China. In particular, in November 2019, a container train was launched on the Xi'an - Istanbul - Prague route, connecting Kazakhstan, China, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. In April last year, the first container train passed the Xi'an - Izmir route. He covered a distance of about 7000 kilometers in 16 days.
“These are good examples of our interaction. However, we still have a lot to do to ensure sustainable progress. This year we need to ensure that the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway route reaches full capacity. Turkestan to Tashkent will increase the tourism potential of both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, reduce travel time to two hours and facilitate communication between businessmen and social contacts of our countries, "Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev said.
The presentation also provided information on Kazakhstan's participation in infrastructure projects in Afghanistan. Together with Russian and Uzbek partners, our country participates in the construction of the Mazar-i-Sharif-Quetta and Mazar-i-Sharif-Peshawar railways. Bilateral trade with Afghanistan grew by 55 percent last year.
Another important priority for our region is food security. The President stressed that Kazakhstan supports all ECO initiatives in the field of agriculture, and urged member states to join the Islamic Organization for Food Security (IOFS), which is headquartered in Nur-Sultan.
Read more at https://tengrinews.kz/kazakhstan_news/sammit-oes-tokaev-rasskazal-perspektivnyih-proektah-430837/
