Member States have been represented by Deputy Minister of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan, H.E. Sahib Mammadov, Deputy Minister of Economy of the Kyrgyz Republic, H.E. Eldar Abakirov, Deputy Minister of Trade of the Republic of Turkey, H.E. Rıza Tuna Turagay.
Observer State Hungary was represented by the Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of Hungary in Kazakhstan, Mr. Shandor Dorogi at the meeting. Governor of the Astana International Financial Center Mr. Kairat Kelimbetov also took part in the meeting.
Secretary General Baghdad Amreyev, in his welcoming speech emphasized that the new initiatives discussed by the Member States such as establishment of Joint Investment Fund, Turkic Trade House and Joint Chamber of Commerce, among others will greatly contribute to increasing trade and economic potential of the Member States. He also drew attention to the necessity to concentrate joint efforts in support of the SMEs, which are in fact an important driver stimulating economic growth and stressed that Secretariat has already started working in this direction.
Secretary General B.Amreyev invited all the Member States to actively work on creating the favorable environment by taking necessary measures to promote trade, strengthen economic ties and to increase investment, as well as to stimulate cooperation between the private sectors of Member States with concrete and productive initiatives.
Governor of the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC) Mr. Kairat Kelimbetov welcomed the participants in the Center. He highlighted that the economic agenda of the Turkic Council is of utmost importance for furthering fruitful cooperation among the Member States. He stated that the AIFC is in line with the objectives of the Turkic Council and requested the Member States to consider the AIFC as a regional office for their economic activities.
Vice Minister of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan H.E. Zhaslan Madiyev welcomed the participants and emphasized the importance of cooperation among the Turkic States. He pointed out that for 10 years, the Turkic Council has taken its rightful place among international organizations and successfully strengthens economic cooperation in various directions, such as investments, trade, transport business, tourism and other areas.
He provided information about the current levels of trade and investment of Kazakhstan with the Turkic Council Member States. Vice Minister expressed that since the establishment of the Turkic Council, the trade volume of Kazakhstan with the organization’s member countries has increased from 3.3 to 5.5 billion dollars (67%). In 2018, export from Kazakhstan to the Turkic Council member countries increased by 23.5 percent (amounted 3.7 billion US dollar) and import increased by 1.6 percent (1.8 billion US dollar). Net foreign direct investments also have shown positive dynamics, reflecting the region’s attractiveness as an investment destination.
Vice Minister Z.Madiyev also expressed his satisfaction with stable growth and increasing dynamics of the economies and achievements that the Turkic Council Member States have reached in the development of transport infrastructure, becoming the strong economic corridor and transportation hub linking Europe with Asia.
Furthermore, he shared with the participants the views and visions of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the agenda items, particularly stressing on the newly-founded Turkic Chamber of Commerce and Industry, initiatives related to the establishment of Turkic Investment Fund and Turkic Trade Houses, as well as launching a new Turkic Business Web portal.
Deputy Minister of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan Sahib Mammadov stated that Azerbaijan's trade volume with the Turkic Council member countries amounted 1.7 billion US dollars within the first 5 months of 2019 and the share of Turkic Council member countries in the overall trade volume of the country estimated 11.6 percent.
He informed that Azerbaijan has invested 14.9 billion US dollars in Turkic Council Member States and inbound investments estimated around 12.3 billion US dollars. Deputy Minister S. Mammadov also stressed that the “Baku-Tbilisi-Kars” railway and “Baku International Sea Trade Port” will contribute to the further development of economic cooperation between the Member States.
Deputy Minister of Economy of the Kyrgyz Republic Eldar Abakirov stated that the economic cooperation between the Turkic-speaking countries is developing dynamically and extensible. He also shared with the opportunities for further development trade and investment relations with Kyrgyzstan
Deputy Minister of Trade of the Republic of Turkey Riza Tuna Turagay, emphasizing the existing huge economic potential of the Turkic Council Member States stressed that there still is room for improvement in terms of the efforts to increase trade and investment within the organization, which continue to lag far behind of the real potential. To overcome this gap, Deputy Minister invited the Member States for better coordination and to continue the reforms on further liberalization of the trade regime in the region. He expressed that Turkey is ready to assist the Member States in overcoming existing challenges to stimulate economic growth in the region.
Deputy Secretary General of the Turkic Council Dr. Omer Kocaman reported to the Ministers on the outcomes of 11th Meeting of the Working Group on economic cooperation, which was held on 2 July 2019.
In the second part of the meeting, Secretary General of the Turkic Council Baghdad Amreyev briefed theon the prominent projects that Member States had progress since last Ministerial Meeting in Bishkek, mainly ongoing negotiations on the establishment of the Turkic Investment Fund, issues related to the newly established Turkic Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the establishment of the Turkic Trade House, organization of investment and business forums in September 2019 in Tashkent and in October in Baku, as well as in various areas that have important impacts to the economic activities among the Member States.
It was decided to continue the efforts to establish the Turkic Investment Fund by the Secretariat before the Baku summit of Turkic Council in cooperation with international, regional and national institutions and organizations. Also, the Parties agreed to continue working on Strategy Paper concerning the facilitation of trade among Turkic Council Member States, as well as carry on the trainings given by the member countries of the Turkic Council on topics such as investment statistics, investment environment, export support and SME support.
The Heads of delegations commended the Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan for hosting this successful meeting in AIFC and expressed their gratitude for the excellent arrangements and warm hospitality. They also highly appreciated proposal of Azerbaijan to host the next ministerial and working group meetings on economic cooperation in 2020.
Deputy Secretary General Dr. Omer Kocaman, Project Directors Ms. Ozge Pan and Mr. Farrukh Jumayev assisted Secretary General Baghdad Amreyev during the meeting.
