Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to increase freight volumes

Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan will increase freight volumes, Tengrinews reports citing the official website of the Kazakhstan president.

On June 3 Nursultan Nazarbayev arrived in the Turkish city of Bodrum to participate in the Fourth Summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States. On May 5, within the framework of the Summit, the president of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev met with the president of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov.

They discussed future development in their countries' bilateral relations and implementation of agreements reached during the state visit of the President of Turkmenistan to Kazakhstan in 2013. In addition, the leaders exchanged views with respect to the most pressing issues on the international agenda.

"The heads of states discussed strengthening of cooperation in economy, trade, oil and gas, transit and transport, cultural and humanitarian exchange, as well as key aspects of cross-border cooperation. Nursultan Nazarbayev and Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov expressed confidence that the forthcoming completion of Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway will increase the traffic flows of the three countries in both the northern and the southern directions," the statement said.

During the meeting the presidents agreed that the existing trade potential was not being fully used and that it was necessary to intensify expansion of trade between the two countries.

The Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States (The Turkic Council) is an intergovernmental organization with an aim of promoting political and economic cooperation among the Turkic-speaking countries that share common cultural and historical background. The current members of the Council are Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkey. Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are potential members.

Writting by Dinara Urazova, editing by Tatyana Kuzmina