Aidar Amrebayev, Director of the Center for Political Research, accessed the development of Uzbekistan-KAzakhstan relations over seven years.
'As you know, for both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the Central Asian regions are a foreign policy priority. Today, the two countries socio-economic, trade, economic, transport, and logistics relations are dynamically developing. The trade volume is expected to increase to $10bn. However, this is not the limit. The spheres of cooperation cover agriculture, engineering, oil and gas, the chemical sector, and the production of consumer goods. Transport and logistics cooperation is also essential, as east-west transport corridors run through Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan is joining these corridors.
There are such priority areas as water and energy cooperation, transport and logistics cooperation, issues related to labor migration, and humanitarian cooperation. Of course, we need the political support of our countries at various venues - from the UN Security Council to such formats as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, where our countries actively cooperate. Countries also participate in the Chinese 'Belt and Road Initiative, a significant direction. Investment cooperation is also quite active. Joint work is underway to position Central Asia as a whole as a single region. As Shavkat Mirziyoyev said, the perception of Central Asia as a single organism.
Today, in conditions of international turbulence, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are characterized by a balanced position and a position based on the national interests of our countries. Of course, we have recently experienced a rather complex conflict. In Kazakhstan, it was the January events of 2022. Uzbekistan also had such a problem as Karakalpakstan. Nevertheless, the countries' leadership has maintained a reasonably balanced position. And today, countries constantly coordinate interaction along the entire perimeter of pressing foreign policy issues. Evidence of this is the meeting of our heads of state in Shymkent 'without ties' after the visit of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. As is known, both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan participated in the C5+1 format (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and the USA). Of course, two central States play a crucial role - Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. And it is a pleasure that immediately after the visit, the two heads of state exchanged views on topical issues raised in this format. It seems that in the future, the tandem of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan can play a good role in the integration, and cooperative, economic, social, and cultural ties of the countries of the entire region, as was the case, for example, with the case of the European Union, based on the interaction between France and Germany.
Svetlana Shesternyova, Almaty
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