President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, said that Central Asia feels threatened by geopolitical tensions and called for building bridges between Central Asia and Europe, “not walls.” He made this statement during his speech at a meeting of the heads of state of Central Asia and the President of the European Council, Vlast.kz reports.
“The world around us is changing rapidly. Central Asia is feeling threatened by unprecedented geopolitical tensions. Today it is extremely important to strengthen mutual trust and the spirit of cooperation in the heart of Eurasia. In this difficult time, we, and those who are in Central Asia and Europe, need to build bridges, not walls,” Tokayev said.
“Central Asia is a connecting bridge between geopolitical centers and world markets. And I am convinced that the desire to develop a wide range of interregional cooperation is a solid foundation for a comprehensive dialogue between the countries of Central Asia and the European Union,” the President of Kazakhstan said.
Tokayev also called trade, economic and investment cooperation one of the most important areas of cooperation. According to him, over the past 10 years, the EU has invested more than $120 billion in Central Asian countries, which is actually 40% of foreign direct investment in the region.
“About 70% of all these funds were sent to Kazakhstan. For 8 months since the beginning of this year, the volume of trade between Kazakhstan and the EU countries has reached almost $30 billion, an increase of more than 40% compared to the same period last year. Today, about three thousand companies with the participation of European capital are successfully operating in various sectors of the economy of Kazakhstan,” Tokayev said.
The President believes that trade between countries should have a more balanced structure. In this regard, Kazakhstan can offer more than 100 types of processed goods worth about $1.5 billion per year in industries such as engineering, iron and steel production, food processing and agriculture.
“A promising topic is food security. Kazakhstan annually exports more than 5 million tons of wheat, including to the EU countries. Over the past year, our exports of food products to the EU increased by 32% and exceeded $630 million. Therefore, Kazakhstan could continue to supply agricultural products and mineral fertilizers to the EU countries,” Tokayev promised.
A separate topic, according to him, is a green energy. Tokayev believes that “here we could also cooperate closely.”
At the end of the meeting, the heads of state of Central Asia and the President of the European Council adopted a joint statement for the media.
The statement said that they reaffirmed their commitment to continue building a strong, diversified and forward-looking partnership based on shared values and mutual interests; a commitment to work together for peace, security, democracy, the rule of law and sustainable development in full respect of international law; adherence to the observance of the UN Charter, especially the principles of respect for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, the non-use of force or the threat of its use and the peaceful resolution of international disputes.
inozPRESS.kg,
Oct. 28, 2022