Kazakhstan and Georgia signed a Bilateral Memorandum of Cooperation between the National Railway Companies

Georgian Prime Minister, Garibashvili, visited Kazakhstan and met President Tokayev and Prime Minister Smailov. The countries are partners in the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, “The Middle Corridor”, connecting China and Central Asia to Europe

Nur Sultan, 28/07/2022.

Georgian Prime Minister, Irakli Garibashvili, visited Kazakhstan on Wednesday, July 27, and met President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Prime Minister Alihan Smailov. Issues of trade, economic, investment, and humanitarian cooperation between Kazakhstan and Georgia were discussed during the meeting. Kazakhstan’s Head of State, Tokayev, noted: "Georgia and Kazakhstan are bound by close ties of friendship and multifaceted cooperation. Our mutual task is to strengthen and further develop the bilateral relations”.

Sides paid special attention to transport and logistics interaction. Kazakhstan proposes to consider its market as a gateway to Central Asia, which has direct access to neighboring China. The countries are partners in the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, known also as the “Middle Corridor” transportation route, which plays an important role in strengthening ties between the region and Western Europe.

Prime Minister Garibashvili expressed his gratitude to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev for the opportunity to meet and reaffirmed Georgia's interest in strengthening contacts. “I came with an important message”, he stressed. “We are interested in developing cooperation with Kazakhstan and expanding our ties and relations in all areas. Trade between countries is increasing, in the first half of the year, it grew by 150%. We value our bilateral relations, cooperation, and friendship as well as the great opportunity to expand ties”.

During the meeting with the Kazakh Prime Minister, the parties discussed issues of trade and economic cooperation, expansion of mutual investments and business contacts, development of tourism, the opening of new flights, etc. Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov noted that there are record indicators of mutual trade turnover - an increase from $31.7 million to $147.7 million. The parties also discussed the development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, noting that in order to increase its competitiveness, it is necessary to remove infrastructure restrictions on railway sections and seaports, as well as to review existing tariffs.

The two Prime Ministers signed a number of bilateral documents: the Roadmap for expanding the range of mutual trade between Kazakhstan and Georgia for 2023-2026; the Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry of Kazakhstan and the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia; as well as the Memorandum on cooperation between the national railway companies of Kazakhstan and Georgia - JSC "Kazakhstan Temir Zholy" and JSC "Georgian Railway".