PRESIDENT OF MONGOLIA U.KHURELSUKH AND PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN K.TOKAYEV HOLD OFFICIAL TALKS
At the invitation of the President of Mongolia Ukhnaa Khurelsukh, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is on a State Visit to Mongolia on October 28-29, 2024.
The Heads of State held official talks on October 29, 2024, in a warm and friendly atmosphere. The parties reviewed the achievements of the past 30 years of relations, and exchanged views on a wide range of issues on further enriching the cooperation with new content, expanding and developing in all fields such as road, transportation, logistics, agriculture, education, culture, and tourism as well as cooperation in the international and regional arena.
President U.Khurelsukh emphasized that Mongolia and Kazakhstan share a longstanding friendship and a brotherly bond, deeply rooted in history, heritage, and tradition, and expressed Mongolia’s commitment to strengthening its traditional friendly relations with Central Asian countries, particularly Kazakhstan, and to expanding mutually beneficial trade and economic cooperation. His Excellency expressed his satisfaction that, through this State Visit, Kazakhstan has become Mongolia’s first “Strategic Partner” in the Central Asian region, noting that this represents a significant milestone, ushering in a new era in the relations and cooperation between the two countries.
President K.Tokayev extended heartfelt gratitude to the State, Government, and people of Mongolia for the invitation to visit Mongolia and for the hospitality and warm welcome extended to the Kazakhstan delegation. H.E. emphasized that Mongolia is Kazahstan’s important neighboring country in the region with common spiritual and cultural values, and expressed his commitment to further strengthening the friendship between the people of two countries and intensively developing relations and cooperation.
The Heads of State of Mongolia and Kazakhstan highlighted that this State Visit marks a new phase in elevating the traditional friendly relations between the two countries to the level of a “Strategic Partnership.” They noted that this milestone will be etched in the history of bilateral relations in golden letters and will provide a vital impetus for the accelerated development of cooperation.
The Presidents agreed to further strengthen the bond of friendship between the people and to intensify and expand cooperation across a wide range of sectors, including road and transport, agriculture, light industry, tourism, education, and culture. They also reiterated their commitment to foster collaboration in livestock and crop farming, light industry, and small and medium enterprises, drawing on the abundant resources and potential of both countries’ agricultural sectors.
In order to expand mutually beneficial trade and economic cooperation, increase bilateral trade turnover to 500 million US dollars, and expand the range of export and import goods, the parties agreed to increase the volume of mutual supplies of products such as wool, cashmere, and leather from Mongolia, as well as fruits, vegetables, white rice and seed wheat from Kazakhstan.
Within the framework of the visit, the First session of the Business Council of Mongolia and Kazakhstan was successfully held, with many representatives from enterprises in both countries in attendance. The Heads of State unanimously noted that the creation of the Business Council of Mongolia and Kazakhstan was a vivid expression of the high readiness of entrepreneurs to cooperate.
The Parties agreed that cooperation in the transport and logistics sector is important for expanding economic cooperation between the two countries, and appreciated the conclusion of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Road and Transport of Mongolia and the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Within this framework, the parties agreed to cooperate in resolving obstacles and difficulties arising in the road transport sector, creating new transport and logistics routes within the framework of bilateral and multilateral legal mechanisms, further increasing and regulating the frequency of direct flights between the two countries, and conducting direct flights between Ulaanbaatar and Astana.
The parties acknowledged the vital role of the tourism sector in bilateral cooperation and agreed to strengthen collaboration between their respective tourism authorities. They committed to jointly organizing tourism events and activities to promote and raise awareness of each other’s countries. Additionally, they agreed to work together in developing tourism focused on border areas and on nomadic culture and traditions.
The Heads of State emphasized that cultural and educational ties are an important bridge connecting citizens of the two countries, agreed to expand and develop cooperation in this area, as well as actively support cooperation in the development of Mongolian and Kazakh studies, training of teachers and researchers of the language, culture and regional studies of the two countries, programs for the exchange of children and youth, and cooperation in the sports and cultural and creative industries.
The parties affirmed their commitment to strengthening regional and international cooperation, including deepening collaboration within the United Nations and other international organizations.
The Heads of State agreed to contribute jointly to global efforts in combating climate change, desertification, and environmental protection. To this end, they committed to aligning Mongolia’s national “One Billion Trees” initiative with Kazakhstan’s “Two Billion Trees” project, thus fostering collaboration in the forestry sector.
Furthermore, within the framework of the “International Think Tank for Landlocked Developing countries”, the parties agreed to formulate development policies for landlocked developing countries, align their positions, strengthen relations and cooperation.
As an outcome of the official talks, the two sides signed a “Joint Declaration on Strategic Partnership between Mongolia and the Republic of Kazakhstan”.
Additionally, several documents were signed between the Governments and organizations of the two countries aimed at strengthening the legal framework of bilateral relations and cooperation.