(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 2. Azerbaijan's
chairmanship inspires Kazakhstan to consider further prospects for
participation in the Non-Aligned Movement, Kanat Tumysh, Deputy
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan told
trend in an
exclusive 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.