Kazakhstan’s President meets his Kyrgyz counterpart Almazbek Atambayev

Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev has met his Kyrgyz counterpart Almazbek Atambayev in Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city, Tengrinews.kz reports, citing President Nazarbayev's Press Service.

The two heads discussed strengthening of the bilateral ties between the two nations, including cooperation in trade and economic, investments, water and hydropower, culture realms. The two presidents dwelt on directions for the joint Kazakh-Kyrgyz investments fund and broached interaction within integration entities in the Eurasian space.

According to Nazarbayev, "as compared to 2011, the annual trade turnover has grown by 41%, exceeding $1 billion. Since gaining independence from the USSR back in 1991, Kazakhstan has invested over $1 billion into the Kyrgyz economy. There is much to do. We are to hold a sitting of the Interstate Committee and a sitting of the Supreme Interstate Council. In this context, we are ready to discuss all the directions for cooperation".

Atambayev expressed his gratitude for the talks and emphasized that Kazakhstan is a leader in Central Asia in terms of maintaining peace and stability and securing a decent economic performance. "While in Kazakhstan I always notice useful practices to borrow and always say there is much to learn from Kazakhstan", he said.

The two sides also exchanged their opinions on acute issues on the international agenda, including security issues in the region.
President Nazarbayev arrived in Almaty March 26 on a working trip.