Mikhail Mishustin’s talks with Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Askar Mamin

During the meeting the prime ministers discussed current issues of bilateral trade and economic cooperation, and cooperation in the Eurasian Economic Union as well as other topics of common interest.

From the transcript:

Mikhail Mishustin: Mr Mamin, colleagues and friends,

I would like to welcome all of you to the Government House of the Russian Federation and, using this opportunity, to congratulate you on Nowruz. People in Kazakhstan say: Nowruz kutty bolsyn. I sincerely congratulate you on this holiday of spring and wish you all the best. Naturally, I would like to convey our warmest congratulations to President of Kazakhstan Kasym-Jomart Tokayev and the first President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev. Please convey our most sincere wishes to them.

Our relations continue to develop dynamically. Mr Mamin, we maintain permanent contact with you. Our colleagues - ministers and government members are continuously working to make Russian-Kazakhstani cooperation effective and to pursue the goals set by our leaders. Our joint efforts in the Eurasian Economic Union under your leadership are effective and active.

It is very important to build up trade and economic cooperation in our bilateral ties but, unfortunately, this development has been less impressive due to the pandemic. However, we are seeing better results today. Our cooperation and trade are growing stronger in many areas: agriculture, industry, trade and infrastructure projects.

Needless to say, in this respect, we have to mention the coronavirus. We have helped each other during this entire difficult period. I am happy that the Karaganda Pharmaceutical Complex started producing the Sputnik V vaccine in February. You know, and much has been written about this, including by our esteemed foreign colleagues, that this is one of the most effective vaccines in the world today. I am hopeful that all this will help us deal with the threats and risks of the coronavirus.

Today, we will discuss issues we have been dealing with since February 4, our EAEU heads of government meeting in Almaty. We will be preparing for the next event scheduled for late April in Kazan.

Askar Mamin: Mr Mishustin, colleagues,

I am very glad to have this opportunity to meet and discuss the current issues in our bilateral cooperation. Considering the external negative factors affecting the world economy, I believe we must focus on developing the potential of regional commerce. Our cooperation in the EAEU must produce the desired results, and this is what Kazakhstan is pursuing as the EAEU Chairman this year.

Of course we pay special attention to our cooperation, our joint activities. You correctly noted a number of main areas in which our cooperation is very dynamic. This applies to industrial cooperation - several major projects are being carried out in this area. We are talking about the promising development of the agro-industrial sector with a view to ensuring food security and building a global food hub. We can pool our efforts in this field as well.

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, Kazakhstan is among the top five countries with 'the most promising' agricultural potential. Taking into account our experience in developing agriculture, we are willing to carry out joint projects with the Russian Federation. We believe this has special, important potential.

As regards investment cooperation, we met today with our Russian colleagues from the RDIF, with Kirill Dmitriev. We agreed to establish a joint fund to target investment projects through concerted efforts. Incidentally, this cooperation involves our partners from third countries. There are examples of such cooperation. I believe we will have an opportunity to discuss in detail all these areas.

And, of course, you spoke, with good reason, about issues related to countering the coronavirus pandemic. We are particularly grateful for our joint efforts in this area and the assistance that was rendered in difficult times. Today, we are really using the Sputnik V vaccine in Kazakhstan. We consider it one of the most effective. We have developed production at Karaganda and want to increase capacity as much as possible. We believe it is the most effective vaccine to help us respond to the pandemic.

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