OREANDA-NEWS. On December 13, 2007 after official welcome ceremony at the Akorda Palace, the Heads of State had narrowed and enlarged negotiations and discussed issues of bilateral trade economic cooperation, reported the Official website www.akorda.kz.

During the talks, President Nursultan Nazarbayev said Turkey is a stable political and economic partner to Kazakhstan that supports global initiatives of official Astana.

The common historical and cultural roots of the two nations assist to the dynamic development of Kazakhstan-Turkey relations, which have reached the level of strategic partnership. Our bilateral cooperation successfully develops in political, military, trade economic and cultural humanitarian areas.

“People in Turkey very carefully monitor Kazakhstan’s economic reforms. Because of your efforts, Kazakhstan has turned into a shining star of Central Asia over the independence years, and become a reputable, reliable and strong state,” Abdullah Gul emphasized.

The sides placed a special emphasis on issues of broadening trade economic cooperation. The bilateral trade turnover has reached 1,5 billion dollars this year; this is by 50% greater than the volume of mutual trade in the last year. The Heads of State underscored the possibility to increase the volume of mutual trade up to 5 billion dollars by 2010.

There are 1674 joint enterprises with the participation of Turkish capital in Kazakhstan, and the volume of Turkish investments in the economy of Kazakhstan is equal to 1,1 billion dollars. On its turn, Kazakhstan has invested 350 million dollars in the economy of Turkey.

During the talks, the sides discussed prospects of cooperation in the areas of energy and transport. Particularly, it was noted that the construction of a refinery plant at the port of Ceyhan with the participation of the National Company KazMunayGas will give a new impulse to the energy cooperation between the two countries. In addition, the construction of the railroad Kars-Tbilisi-Ahalkalaki has a great importance to the development of trade in the region.

Speaking at the final press conference, President Nursultan Nazarbayev expressed his confidence that in the nearest future Kazakhstan will join the group of the largest oil producers. In this regard, Kazakhstan’s participation in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan projects is especially important.

“We are building necessary infrastructure on the Caspian coast that will be required in the nearest future in order to transport oil by tankers to Baku,” the President said.

The President noted that Kazakhstan has initiated the construction of a large refinery complex costing some 5 billion dollars. Nursultan Nazarbayev called Turkey’s businessmen to participate in the project.

“We encourage the propensity of our businessmen to invest in Kazakhstan’s economy,” Turkey’s President said at the press conference.

President Abdullah Gul congratulated Kazakhstan’s leader on Kazakhstan’s chairmanship in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2010.

Turkey’s leader put an emphasis on the fact that his visit is being paid on the eve of Kazakhstan’s Independence Day.

“I will be pleased to participate in the events devoted to this holiday. This year, we also celebrate the 15th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between our countries. I would like to congratulate you on this jubilee,” Abdullah Gul said.

The Heads of State expressed their confidence that the visit’s outcomes will give a powerful impulse to the further development of Kazakhstan-Turkey relations.

Within the state visit by President Abdullah Gul of the Republic of Turkey to the Republic of Kazakhstan, the sides inked a Program for long-term economic cooperation between the governments of Kazakhstan and Turkey, and also a Plan of actions on the program’s implementation for 2008-2009.

The President of Turkey continues his state visit to Kazakhstan.