ASTANA, Kazakhstan, June 9. President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev during a press statement with the President of Bulgaria expressed gratitude to Rumen Radev for accepting the invitation to visit Kazakhstan and labeled Bulgaria as an important and reliable partner of Kazakhstan in Southeast Europe, Trend reports.
“Our cooperation is based on strong ties of friendship and mutual understanding. We regard Bulgaria as a strategically important partner and attach great importance to further developing relations with your country. Last week marked 33 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between our two states. Your visit to Kazakhstan coincides with this significant occasion. Over this period, Astana and Sofia have established an active political dialogue at all levels, based on mutual trust. A solid legal framework has been created, and ties in trade, economics, and investment are strengthening,” Tokayev emphasized.
President Tokayev also noted that among the various ethnic groups living in peace and harmony in Kazakhstan are Bulgarians, who play a special role in strengthening relations between the two nations.
According to Tokayev, Kazakhstan and Bulgaria are working productively within international organizations, and their comprehensive and reliable partnership will continue to develop dynamically.
Moreover, the Kazakh President stated that the negotiations held were substantive and resulted in several concrete agreements.
“In particular, we paid special attention to expanding trade, economic, and investment ties between Kazakhstan and Bulgaria. A positive trend has been the growth of bilateral trade. More than 60 Bulgarian companies are successfully operating in various sectors of our economy. Therefore, there is a good opportunity to increase this figure. Mr. President and I agreed to increase the volume of mutual trade and to develop new investment projects on a mutually beneficial basis. We emphasized the importance of implementing joint initiatives in the fields of oil and gas, renewable energy, green energy, nuclear industry, digitalization, innovation, artificial intelligence, space industry, agriculture, healthcare, cultural and humanitarian relations, and tourism,” said the President of Kazakhstan.
Furthermore, President Tokayev also shared that he had discussed key regional and global issues with his Bulgarian counterpart.
“Our positions on many global issues are aligned. Supporting each other’s initiatives has become a good tradition. Our cooperation in multilateral structures is developing successfully. I expressed gratitude to the Bulgarian side and to Mr. President for supporting Kazakhstan’s initiative to open a UN Regional Center for Sustainable Development Goals for Central Asia and Afghanistan in Almaty. The current geopolitical conflicts around the world are of concern to both our countries. We are convinced that all problems must be resolved peacefully and through political and diplomatic means. We place great importance on the further development of multilateral diplomacy. We agreed to continue combining efforts and cooperating at the international level, as well as actively participating in promoting peace and stability. I believe that President Radev’s visit to our country will give new impetus to expanding bilateral ties,” Tokayev emphasized.
In turn, the President of Bulgaria Rumen Radev noted that a comprehensive analysis of interstate relations in all areas of mutual interest had been conducted. According to him, there is great potential for strengthening cooperation.
“I am confident that today’s talks will give new momentum to our bilateral cooperation. The signed Memorandum on the further development of the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor reflects our shared aspirations. It is essential to take full advantage of the strategic geographic positions of Kazakhstan and Bulgaria along this route, which connects Asia with Europe. In addition, we have enormous opportunities not only in cargo transportation, energy, and digitalization, but also in expanding our cultural ties,” said Rumen Radev.