Turkey is ready to develop the Middle Transport Corridor across the Caspian Sea together with Kazakhstan, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, speaking at the 4th meeting of the Kazakhstan-Turkey Strategic Cooperation Council on Wednesday in Astana, Anadolu news agency reported.
Erdogan noted that Turkey takes an active part in the diversification of Kazakhstan's economy. "According to the results of last year, the trade turnover between our countries exceeded $5 billion. In the medium term, we plan to bring this figure to $10 billion. Everything goes according to plan," the Turkish leader said.
According to him, cooperation in the transport and logistics sector allows the two countries to achieve the target for the medium term. "We have brought investments in Kazakhstan to $4.13 billion. Turkey, unlike other countries, pays attention not only to the energy sector, but also helps to diversify the economy of Kazakhstan and increase employment. I'm sure you will support our companies that want to contribute more to job creation," the Turkish president said.
Erdogan drew attention to the growing economic importance of the Caspian route. "We are ready to develop the Mid-Caspian Transport Corridor [across the Caspian] together with Kazakhstan. We also aim to develop cooperation in the energy sector," the Turkish leader said.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, in turn, called Turkey one of the closest and most reliable partners of Kazakhstan.
The Kazakh president noted the dynamically developing trade, economic and investment cooperation between the two countries. "Our goal is to bring the mutual trade turnover up to $10 billion. Over the past 15 years, Ankara has invested $4.35 billion in Kazakhstan. And our country has invested $1.13 billion in Turkey," the Kazakh leader said.
He noted that Turkey is among the top 10 largest investors of Kazakhstan. "In general, transit-transport ties play an important role in building the potential of bilateral trade. We call for the development of the Trans-Caspian corridor to reduce transportation costs and delivery time," Tokayev continued.
Tokayev recalled that in June of this year the president held a meeting in Baku in a trilateral format. "We intend to continue this tradition. We suggest holding the next meeting in Aktau," the politician said.
At the end of the talks, a joint statement was adopted in the presence of the heads of state and six documents were signed. Tokayev awarded Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with the Order of Friendship, First Degree.
