Central Asia Review: Alliance treaty, CIS summit, wages increase

By Azernews

By Sabina Mammadli

Central Asia Weekly Review: 21-27 Dec 22

HIGHLIGHTS

• Kazakh, Uzbek Presidents sign alliance and border demarcation treaties
• Kyrgyzstan takes over CIS chairmanship in 2023
• Tajik President proposes 20-percent rise in public sector wages version
• Turkmenistan, Japan ink Memorandum of Cooperation in the field of infrastructure
• Uzbek President takes part in informal CIS Summit

KAZAKHSTAN

Kazakh, Uzbek Presidents sign alliance and border demarcation treaties

Presidents of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed a treaty on allied relations between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan as well as a state border demarcation treaty.

The presents also took part in a ceremony of launching joint ventures. The two were informed in detail about the realization of joint projects between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

In particular, projects for the production of home appliances in the Karaganda region, infusion solutions in Shymkent, as well as Chevrolet cars in Kostanay city are to be launched in Kazakhstan.

A mineral fertilizer production project in the Navoiy region, construction of a logistics center in the Tashkent region as well as housing and commercial infrastructure in Tashkent are set to be carried out in Uzbekistan.

Tokayev and Mirziyoyev wished successful realization of joint projects and gave a start to the construction of the projects.

Seoul hosts roundtable on 30th anniversary of Kazakhstan-South Korea diplomatic relations

The embassy of Kazakhstan hosted a round table dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Korea.

The event was attended by the heads of research centers, leading experts, representatives of the academic community, and the media.

In his speech, Ambassador of Kazakhstan Bakyt Dyussenbayev spoke about the main achievements over 30 years of bilateral political, economic, cultural, and humanitarian cooperation. Also, he especially noted the deep historical ties and closeness of cultures between the two peoples, which are a solid foundation for the further development of bilateral relations.

KYRGYZSTAN

Kyrgyzstan takes over CIS chairmanship in 2023

Kyrgyzstan will take over CIS chairmanship following Kazakhstan next year.

“I would like to wish Sadyr Japarov great success in the forthcoming chairmanship of the CIS next year,” Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said at an informal CIS summit.

According to him, the outgoing year turned out to be difficult. Under these conditions, within the framework of its chairmanship of the CIS, Kazakhstan took measures to strengthen the potential of the Commonwealth. Over 80 major events have been held, solutions have been developed.

“Our joint efforts are reflected in the documents adopted following the results of the Astana Summit in October. Particular attention was paid to the implementation of the tasks of the CIS Economic Development Strategy until 2030. All these steps, in our opinion, have borne fruit. I would like to draw attention to the creation of favorable conditions for trade. We believe that substantive work should be done on the elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers and the prevention of protectionism. Cooperation should be established in food security issues,” Tokayev said.

He drew attention to the fact that the CIS would mark the Year of the Russian Language in 2023.

Kyrgyzstan, Iran agree to exchange data on turnover of goods

The Chairman of the Customs Service of Kyrgyzstan Samat Isabekov and Iranian Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Said Kharazi discussed topical issues of trade and economic cooperation and prospects for further development of bilateral partnership between the customs authorities.

They also studied the issues of signing draft memorandums between the customs services of the two countries “On preliminary electronic data exchange and international movement of vehicles and goods” and “On electronic exchange of information on eTIR procedures”.

At the same time, the parties noted the importance of conducting active joint work with a focus on further increasing bilateral trade between the countries and the possibility of mutual cooperation between the training centers of the customs authorities in order to improve the skills of customs officers.

TAJIKISTAN

Tajik President proposes 20-percent rise in public sector wages version

Tajiki President Emomali Rahmon proposed to strengthen the level of the population's social security and increase the minimum wage, public sector wage, pensions, and allowances.

He made the remarks speaking at a joint meeting of both chambers of parliament on December 23.

He noted that the government regards social protection, science, education, healthcare, and culture as priorities in its policy and has been undertaking all necessary actions toward the smooth development of these areas since the initial days of the country’s independence.

Rahmon stressed that in order to improve the social status of the population he proposed to increase the salary of law enforcement officers and military personnel by 25 percent and the salary of other employees of these bodies by 20% starting from March 1, 2023, and to increase the salary of employees of education, science, healthcare, social protection sectors and scholarships by 20 percent starting from July 1, 2023.

He also proposed to increase the number of basic pensions by 20 percent starting from July 1, 2023.

Tajik foreign minister holds talks with director-general of Japan’s Foreign Service Training Institute

Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin and Director-General of the Foreign Service Training Institute of Japan’s MFA Akira Muto discussed issues related to expanding cooperation in the field of advanced training of diplomatic servants for Tajikistan.

The discussion took place on the sidelines of the 9th Foreign Ministers' Meeting of the "Central Asia plus Japan" Dialogue on December 24 in Tokyo.

The parties expressed readiness to sign a document on relevant cooperation.

TURKMENISTAN

Turkmenistan, Japan inked Memorandum of Cooperation in the field of infrastructure

Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov and Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura signed a memorandum on cooperation in the field of infrastructure in Tokyo.

Within the framework of the meeting, the parties noted the strategic, sustainable and long-term nature of the economic partnership between Turkmenistan and Japan, a vivid example of which are the successfully implemented large-scale projects for the construction of enterprises in the oil and gas and gas chemical industries.

The ministers discussed the possibility of updating the Roadmap for cooperation in the field of infrastructure in Turkmenistan and supplementing it with new relevant projects.

In addition, the interest of the Turkmen side in studying the Japanese experience in green and hydrogen energy and creating modern high-tech industries focused on the production of competitive products was indicated.

Turkmenistan, Russian customs officials discuss partnership in personnel training

The specialists of the customs services of the Russian Federation and Turkmenistan made a decision to take appropriate measures to conclude a Memorandum of Cooperation in the field of personnel training.

The issue of the preparation of personnel was considered during the online meeting of the working group on the implementation of the Joint Action Plan between the State Customs Services of Turkmenistan and the Federal Customs Service of Russia.

During the meeting, the issues on simplification of customs operations when moving goods and vehicles between Turkmenistan and the Russian Federation, and cooperation in the fight against customs offenses, were also discussed.

UZBEKISTAN

Uzbek President takes part in informal CIS Summit

Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev took part in an informal meeting of the CIS Heads of State, held on the initiative of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg on 26 December.

The summit was also attended by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Zhaparov, President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov and Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan.

The results of interaction in the current year were summed up and priorities for the upcoming 2023 were discussed. Views on current issues of the regional and international agenda were exchanged.

It should be noted that Uzbekistan is currently developing cooperation with partners within the CIS in three dimensions: in politics and security, economic and humanitarian spheres.

Uzbekistan, Poland are preparing to sign a bilateral agreement on readmission

Uzbekistan Ambassador to Poland Bakhrom Babayev met with the European liaison return officer within the framework of the EURLO project Edita Skibinskaya.

It was emphasized that the positive experience of the EURLO officer became the basis for the decision to extend this mission until 2026.

Skibinskaya said that in 2023 a grant would also be allocated to conduct seminars in Poland for specialists from Uzbekistan. In particular, it is planned to organize English language courses for employees of the border agencies of the country in order to study special professional terms used in practice on migration, returns and readmission. In addition, it is planned to conduct training seminars in Uzbekistan, Poland and other EU countries on identifying forged documents.