On August 1, the Prime Ministers of Kazakhstan and Georgia, Alikhan Smailov and Irakli Garibashvili, met in Almaty to discuss key issues of cooperation in trade, transportation, and logistics, QazMonitor reports citing primeminister.kz.
Smailov emphasized that Kazakhstan sees Georgia as an important and reliable partner in the South Caucasus. Over the past six months, the volume of trade between the countries has increased by almost 30% and amounted to $190 million.
He highlighted that transit transportation plays an increasingly important role in bilateral relations, underscoring the continued partnership on the development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR). The first half of 2023 saw a 77% increase in the volume of cargo transportation along the TITR, amounting to 1.3 million tons.
Smailov added that the interstate agreements reached provided additional impetus to promote key issues, including digitalization, ensuring stable tariffs for transportation, and the establishment of a single logistics operator along the TITR.
In turn, Garibashvili reaffirmed Georgia's readiness to strengthen effective interaction with Kazakhstan across several areas of cooperation.
"We previously discussed ambitious plans for the implementation of projects that are interesting for both our countries. We pay great attention to the development of the Middle Corridor and joint plans in this direction. A corresponding road map has been signed. I believe that our cooperation will continue to be effective," said Garibashvili.