Azerbaijan's Chairmanship Inspires Kazakhstan To Consider Further Prospects For Participation In NAM - Deputy FM (Interview)

'Azerbaijan has fulfilled a mission that, most likely, would have been impossible for many other countries. We believe that Azerbaijan plays an instrumental role, precisely in terms of the NAM chairmanship. This is a very unique mission, because Azerbaijan has not been chairing the organization for three years, as is usually customary, but for four years, at the request of Uganda, the next chairman,' Tumysh said.

'All the member states note the unique and positive role played by Azerbaijan, which is primarily reflected in the innovations that were carried out under the Azerbaijani chairmanship, such as, for example, the expansion and putting on the agenda of our inter-parliamentary dialogue, as well as the common element of youth policy,' he pointed out.

According to the deputy minister, what Azerbaijan proposed within NAM will help ensure the security and prosperity of future generations, so Baku has played an important, positive and instrumental role in the context of the further transformation of the organization.

The deputy minister stressed that Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are not just fraternal countries, but they also are an important players on the global map.

'Along the routes that unite so many countries - China on one hand, Europe on the other, our countries act as a kind of 'golden bridge' that connects these routes to each other,' Tumysh said.

He noted that mutual trade between the two countries over the past year amounted to half a billion USD, while the countries are aiming to bring this figure to one billion USD, and work consistently in this direction.

'Azerbaijan is our most important partner in the Caucasus, and in Asia, within the framework of the organizations of the Turkic states, so we will consistently increase our economic relations. We have agreed to increase our mutually beneficial supply of goods between the two countries by about $300 million this year as the first task for the first half of 2023. There are more than 100 commodity export items from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan,' the official said.

He also mentioned that Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are working on a number of other important projects that will become the core elements of the cooperation, one of which is the Middle Corridor [Trans-Caspian International Transport Route].

The deputy FM pointed out that such issues as development of an underwater fiber-optic cable along the bottom of the Caspian Sea, as well as the increase of the supply of Kazakh oil through the territory of Azerbaijan, and growing wheat exports to Azerbaijan are on top of the Azerbaijani-Kazakh agenda.

'We are thinking about laying a fiber-optic cable along the bottom of the Caspian Sea, which, and I would like to emphasize that, does not divide, but unites us. We will step up cooperation within this project,' Tumysh stressed.

As the deputy FM noted, the expansion of the capabilities of the seaports of the two countries is currently in the center of attention. According to him, Kazakhstan is building multifunctional terminals in Aktau and Kuryk ports, along with actively attracting foreign investors.

'We are building a container hub in Aktau and we want to further develop our merchant fleet and replenish it with new ferries. We also plan to develop a section of the railway that runs from the Chinese border through the territory of Kazakhstan by electrification. All this will increase the speed of container trains, increase production capacity of our seaports several times,' he explained.

'I am sure that we already have the potential for development of such ambitious mutual projects, Azerbaijani partners have the same projects, that is, this is a two-way road, so we will develop and open new transport corridors, which will create new additional conditions for more extensive mass regional integration. And here I mean the South Caucasus and Türkiye on one hand, and Kazakhstan and Central Asia as a whole on the other hand, and, in general, the route from China to Europe. Therefore, the cable we talked about, the route we have through the Caspian Sea and, of course, have very good development prospects,' he underlined.

Tumysh said Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan play a significant role in this process, being a 'bridge' between East and West.

'The development of these routes will contribute to the expansion of our trade, investment, and tourism dynamics, as well as strengthen the positions of our countries in the current very difficult and turbulent world,' he said.

The deputy FM stressed once again that the NAM Contact Group Summit is a unique event, and this is not just a regular meeting, as it is aimed at discussing the post-pandemic period.

'COVID-19 has significantly slowed down our efforts to increase mutual trade, investment, and tourism ties. Within the framework of this summit, our gift in terms of intellectual value is the idea that President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev expressed at the 75th session of the UN. It implies the creation of an International Agency for Biological Safety. The mission of this organization will be to provide security and control measures that are associated with potential threats that pose biological biotechnological challenges, as well as to promote biological development, but exclusively for peaceful purposes. By doing so, we want to do our part to contribute to the peace, well-being and health of the whole world. This agency could take on a unique role as a supervisory and regulatory body for weapons of mass destruction. We have brought with us the concept of creating this body, and we plan to extrapolate our idea on the sidelines of the NAM summit,' he said.

In conclusion, Tumysh congratulated Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani people on the celebration of the centenary of the birth of national leader Heydar Aliyev.

'This year marks a very important date for the entire Turkic world - the centenary of national leader Heydar Aliyev, great not only for Azerbaijan, but also for the entire Turkic world. And as part of this, we would like to convey our heartfelt wishes to the country and the country's leadership. First of all, I started by saying that we have a cultural community and Heydar Aliyev said that there are many features that distinguish the peoples of the world from one nation from another, and the most important of these features is culture. He said that even if a person has millions or billions of dollars, it will not be able to make him an important element of society. It is spirituality that cannot be bought for any money. Therefore, this spirituality, our common identification of the Kazakh and Azerbaijani people is a very important element of our bilateral cooperation,' he said.

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