BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.14
Trend:
The head of Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Industry and Infrastructural Development Beibut Atamkulov met with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Uzbekistan Saidikram Niyazkhojayev, Trend reports referring to the ministry.
The parties discussed the prospects for deepening the bilateral cooperation. The participants paid special attention to infrastructure projects.
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are working on the creation of a high-speed rail passenger route Turkestan-Shymkent (Kazakh cities)–Tashkent (Uzbek capital city), which will raise the tourism potential of both countries. It’s also planned to include the construction of a new line Maktaral - Darbaza (Kazakhstan) with access to the territory of Uzbekistan, which will unload the existing crossing point Saryagash (Kazakhstan).
Besides, the countries are planning to be connected by a new high-speed highway, which will stretch from Turkestan to Tashkent.
The minister and the ambassador also discussed air traffic between the countries. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, flights between the two countries are carried out regularly. In the future, it’s planned to increase the flights number, as well as open flights on new directions - from the Uzbek cities of Urgench, Samarkand, Nukus to the Kazakh Turkestan, Aktau and Taraz.
Along with infrastructure solutions, the attention during the meeting was paid to industrial projects. The parties will create joint ventures: with a specialization in mechanical engineering in Kazakhstan, as well as for the production of pharmaceutical products in Uzbekistan. It’s also planned to build a plant for the production of medicines and hygiene products in Shymkent.
The parties are also effectively developing the light industry. Since December 2019, the Kazakh-Uzbek joint venture TPK Alliance LLP has been operating, which in 2020 processed over 510 tons of cotton fiber and produced more than 420 tons of yarn.
At the end of the meeting, the parties thanked each other for assistance in the implementation of new projects, and also expressed hope for further productive development of the relations.