Tokaev: Central Asia should be more ambitious

Ambitions of the countries of Central Asia (CU) should not be limited to two spheres, said the President of Kazakhstan Kasym-Zhomart Tokaev during his speech at the IV consultative meeting of the heads of the state of Central Asia.

“Our ambitions should not be limited to the positioning of Central Asia as an exclusively land bridge and a supplier of raw materials. Construction of a truly stable economic model requires large -scale industrialization and the leading development of new promising sectors of the economy,” he said.

The President of Kazakhstan believes that the countries of the Central Asian region need to coordinate their activities of the transport and logistics sphere. “Therefore, governments should closely interact on optimizing tariff policy and simplifying administrative procedures,” the head of Kazakhstan said.

In his speech, he outlined five areas of work to deepen cooperation of countries. They became: strengthening interaction in the field of security and diplomacy, eliminating instrumental factors in the region, the formation of a joint solid economic base, increasing the region of the region and the fight against climatic challenges.