As part of his first official visit to Singapore, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mukhtar Tleuberdi held talks with his Singaporean counterpart, Vivian Balakrishnan, and the Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Trade and Industry, Tan See Leng, Qazmonitor reports citing the press release of the Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
During the meeting, the two sides discussed a wide range of issues of bilateral cooperation. Special attention was paid to the role of Kazakhstan and Singapore as transit and logistics hubs of Eurasia and Southeast Asia.
According to Tleuberdi, Singapore is one of Kazakhstan's main political partners in Southeast Asia. He added that the two countries share common views on major international issues and expressed mutual support in matters concerning participation in various international organizations.
The main topic of the meeting with Minister Tan See Leng was the issues of bilateral trade and economic cooperation, as well as the expansion of the legal framework.
Positive growth of trade turnover between the countries was noted. In 2021, the trade turnover amounted to more than $1 billion and this year it is expected to increase 3 times. In just the first of this year, the volume of trade reached $926 million.
Minister Tleuberdi also took part in an event to mark the official launch of the Kazakhstan-Singapore Business Council "Kazakhstan - Singapore Business Council".
The business association, which includes such major companies as CPG International, Kusto Group, ZNC Enviroventures and others, was designed to promote trade and investment between the two countries, creating a bridge and catalyst for bilateral business cooperation.
The meeting concluded with the agreement that the embassies of the two countries will provide support for the promotion and expansion of trade and investment, as well as tourism.
