Kazakhstani PM says country ready to expand cooperation with Georgia

Alikhan Smailov, the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, on Friday said his Government was ready to expand cooperation with Georgia to utilise the Caspian and Black Sea basins as regional transport links.

At a press briefing after his meeting with his Georgian counterpart Irakli Garibashvili, Smailov said it was “very important to use opportunities of port infrastructures of both countries for the purpose of cargo transportation”. 

He also described Georgia as an “important political and economic partner” in the South Caucasus region and claimed the bilateral cooperation, which he said was “based on friendship and trust”, was developing “dynamically”. 

He noted Georgian investments in Kazakhstan had hit $400 million over the past 17 years, while the corresponding number from Kazakhstani businesses had crossed the $530 million mark in Georgia over the years. 

Smailov also highlighted the trade turnover between the two states had increased seven times last year and exceeded $600 million, and stressed the role of Georgia and Kazakhstan in connecting Europe to Asia in transportation, which he said had been a focus of his meeting with the Georgian PM.

The Kazakhstani official noted the cargo turnover through the Middle Corridor, a logistics route connecting Central Asia and China to Europe via the South Caucasus, had doubled last year, with container shipments rising by 30 percent. He also said the partnering governments wanted to increase the cargo turnover to 10 million tonnes through the route in the medium term.