On June 7, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev discussed prospects of joint projects in the oil and gas, mining and smelting, agriculture, medical, and financial spheres with a Qatari delegation led by Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the emir of Qatar, QazMonitor reports citing Akorda.
The foreign delegation arrived in the Kazakh capital to participate in the Astana International Forum on June 8-9 and included representatives from the Qatari government and business community.
During the meeting, President Tokayev said that both parties had established themselves as important and reliable partners. He expressed confidence that today's talks would provide a new impetus to further develop cooperation between the two countries.
"It will soon be 30 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between our countries. Undoubtedly, this is an important milestone. During this time, we have established effective interstate cooperation and constructive political dialogue. You paid a state visit to Astana last year. Recently, the prime minister of Kazakhstan paid a visit to Qatar. This is vivid evidence of the traditional friendship and strong partnership," said Tokayev.
The president highlighted Kazakhstan's readiness to increase exports to Qatar, offering about 60 types of products worth $250 million. In this regard, he noted that opening direct flights between the two countries will foster the development of bilateral business contacts.
The emir of Qatar acknowledged the growing cooperation in various sectors between both countries.
"This is another good opportunity to discuss the implementation of agreements reached with Kazakhstan during the talks held last year. A large delegation from Qatar has arrived with me, consisting of representatives from the business community. I believe that this will pave the way for successful cooperation between our countries," said Al Thani.