President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took part in the first Summit “Central Asia + Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf”
July 20, 2023
Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
In his speech, the Head of State noted that the meeting of the leaders of Central Asia and the Arab states of the Gulf is of a special nature, is the call of the times and testifies to the mutual desire to bring our multifaceted cooperation to a qualitatively new level. According to him, in a bilateral format, the countries have established very strong and harmonious interstate relations, maintain a trusting and active political dialogue, develop mutually beneficial trade and economic cooperation, and invariably strengthen cultural and humanitarian ties.
– In the international arena, our states adhere to common or similar views on global sustainable development, share common goals to ensure universal security and stability. Undoubtedly, historical ties, common spiritual values, bonds of friendship and brotherhood serve as a solid foundation for our relations. Kazakhstan attaches exceptional importance to today’s meeting. The Gulf countries, with their huge political influence, economic and investment potential, are our most important partners in many key areas. The intensification of intra-regional cooperation between the states of Central Asia and the strengthening of the global significance of the region opens up completely new opportunities for expanding our multifaceted interaction. Of course, the CA+ dialogue formats make a significant contribution to this matter,” Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said.
The leader of Kazakhstan is convinced that the synergy of the potentials of the Central Asian countries and the colossal opportunities of the Gulf countries can set a higher level for multifaceted partnership. He presented his vision of priority areas for further cooperation in this dialogue format.
The second direction is the activation of investment cooperation. According to the UNCTAD report, last year alone, the inflow of net investments into Central Asia increased by 40% and amounted to $10 billion, of which 60% came from Kazakhstan.
Another priority area in the speech was the deepening of energy cooperation. There are more than 30 billion tons of proven oil reserves and more than 20 trillion cubic meters of gas on the territory of the Central Asian states. This makes the region the second largest in the world in terms of oil and gas resources after the Arabian Peninsula.
The head of state dwelled on the issues of food security. He informed about the interest of Kazakhstan in increasing the volume and diversifying the structure of export deliveries of agricultural goods to the Arab countries.
The Head of State considers the development of interregional tourism to be an important area of cooperation.
At the end of his speech, the President emphasized that the initiatives expressed confirm the desire of Kazakhstan to strengthen cooperation in the interests of ensuring mutual sustainable growth and prosperity.
As a result of the first Summit “Central Asia + Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf”, a Joint Statement was adopted.