Ambassador of Kazakhstan to USA Takes Part in Fifth Annual Trans-Caspian Forum

Ambassador Yerzhan Ashikbayev participated in the Fifth Annual Trans-Caspian Forum, organized by the Caspian Political Center. The event brought together politicians and business leaders from the United States and the countries of the Trans-Caspian Corridor.

Participants discussed opportunities and challenges in enhancing strategic engagement, explored current and future opportunities for business, trade and investment. They also emphasized that the cornerstone of the post-COVID recovery would be a robust commitment to hard and soft infrastructure development. The Trans-Caspian Corridor’s success as a bridge between the surrounding regions rests on the Caspian countries’ collective ability to build safe and reliable infrastructure. Multimodal transport hubs are essential for moving cargo across the region’s varied geography, and governments will need to work to build investment climates that will attract the large sums needed to launch new projects.

Zhaslan Madiyev, Deputy Chairman of the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms of Kazakhstan spoke about the trilateral initiative of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and U.S. International Development Financial Corporation launched this year to create a Central Asian investment partnership, where a special attention would be paid to projects that ensure inclusive growth of the region. He noted that the government of Kazakhstan announced changes in legislation and offers investors strategic investment agreements and ensure a stable environment for business development. He mentioned the successful development of the Astana International Financial Center; its jurisdiction is determined by the English common law and has an international arbitration court.

The partners in organizing the Forum were the embassies of Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan with the support of the US Department of Commerce, USAID, the US Department of State and the US National Security Council.