The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, addressing the 14th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization, held yesterday via direct videoconferencing, stressed that this year it is necessary to ensure that that the railway route between Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Iran reaches its full capacity.
The videoconferencing 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 Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, President of Iran Hassan Rouhani, President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, and ECO Secretary General Hadi Soleimanpour.
“These are good examples of our interaction.However, we still have a lot to do to ensure sustainable progress.This year we need to make sure that the railway connection along the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran route reaches its full capacity.
Other new routes are also being developed.The high-speed railway from Turkestan to Tashkent is expected to increase the tourism potential of both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, reduce travel time to two hours and facilitate connections between business people and contacts between our countries,” Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said.
The President of Kazakhstan put forward a number of proposals to improve the efficiency of the Economic Cooperation Organization.According to him, Kazakhstan, as the chairman of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), is ready to promote cooperation between the ECO and CICA in the economic sphere.
Transport and logistics, agriculture, finance, tourism, energy, digital technologies and others are considered as promising areas for cooperation.
“We hope that comprehensive cooperation, based on mutual interests and implementation of joint projects, will help us to face the current challenges and prepare us for the opportunities of tomorrow. We have high expectations of the Organization,” said the head of Kazakhastan.
In conclusion, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev wished Turkmenistan successful presidency in the Economic Cooperation Organization.