NEWS

 

Head of State Rumen Radev is on an official visit to Astana at the invitation of his Kazakh counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

 

Bulgaria and Kazakhstan focus their bilateral cooperation on increasing economic exchange and mutual investments. This was the common position of the Head of State Rumen Radev and the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, with whom the Bulgarian President met today in Astana. Rumen Radev is on an official visit to the Republic of Kazakhstan at the invitation of his Kazakh counterpart. Kazakhstan is a priority strategic partner for Bulgaria in the Central Asian region, with which we are connected by friendly relations based on mutual trust and support between the two peoples, Rumen Radev emphasised during the meeting.

 

In the presence of the heads of state of the two countries, a number of documents were exchanged today to deepen the bilateral partnership, including a memorandum for the development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, a memorandum of cooperation between the Diplomatic Institute of Bulgaria and the Academy of Public Administration of Kazakhstan, a memorandum of mutual understanding between the Sofia Municipality and the Akimat of the city of Astana, a memorandum of twinning between the city of Plovdiv and the city of Shymkent, as well as a memorandum of understanding between the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Chamber of International Trade of Kazakhstan.

 

As particularly promising areas for the development of economic cooperation between Bulgaria and Kazakhstan, Rumen Radev and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev highlighted high technologies, pharmacy, food production and tourism. The delegation led by the Bulgarian head of state also includes representatives of dozens of Bulgarian companies in the fields of construction, logistics, transport infrastructure, high technologies and energy, which are participating today in a business forum with their partners from Kazakhstan. The two presidents are to participate in the closing panel of the Kazakh-Bulgarian Business Forum, with President Tokayev stressing Kazakhstan's readiness to encourage more Bulgarian companies to invest in the country.

 

During their meeting, the two heads of state pointed to the importance of the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor, which increases the security of supplies and creates significant economic prospects for the countries of Central Asia and Europe. This corridor embodies our ambitions to best use the strategic geographical position of both Kazakhstan and Bulgaria. The opportunities are enormous not only for the transportation of goods, but also for energy resources and digital information, said Rumen Radev, expressing our country's interest in diversifying oil supplies to Bulgaria, to which Kazakhstan can also contribute. The possibility of transferring green energy from Kazakhstan to Europe via Bulgaria was also discussed.

 

The Bulgarian president noted high technologies and artificial intelligence as other promising areas of bilateral cooperation. Bulgaria can support Kazakhstan's ambition to build its own supercomputer, Rumen Radev pointed out, adding that our country is among the six EU member states that will receive funding to upgrade their supercomputers and develop an ecosystem for artificial intelligence factories.

 

The Bulgarian head of state also expressed our country's readiness to support Kazakhstan's aspiration to build its own nuclear power plants. In this regard, Rumen Radev highlighted Bulgaria's 50-year experience in the safe operation of nuclear power plants and the opportunities for cooperation in the training of qualified specialists.

 

The expansion of the bilateral partnership in the field of education and science and the provision of scholarships for exchange of students from both countries were also among the highlights of the meeting of the two presidents.

 

In today's geopolitical context, saturated with enormous challenges and drastic changes that affect all countries, Bulgaria and Kazakhstan share the conviction that the resolution of all conflicts should be based on the principles of international law and the norms of the UN Charter as the only possible solution, based on dialogue and active diplomacy, was the common position of the two presidents. Therefore, today's meeting is proof that our two countries are strongly committed to these processes for more stability, sustainability, for peace and prosperity in the important regions of both Central Asia and Southeast Europe, Rumen Radev also stated.

 

Earlier in the day, the Bulgarian head of state was welcomed with a solemn ceremony at the Akorda Palace in Astana, after which the two presidents held a narrow format meeting and led the plenary talks between the official delegations of Bulgaria and Kazakhstan.

 

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