The President of Latvia emphasised that particularly active cooperation was developed in transport and logistics. The development of transport corridors between Europe and South Asia was impossible without the participation of the countries in Central Asia and Kazakhstan in particular.
“The Central Asian region is a bridge between Europe and China. Latvia regards Kazakhstan as an important partner in implementing the Belt and Road Initiative. In its turn, we consider Latvia as an international transport hub and the leading transport and logistics centre in Northern Europe and the Baltic Sea region. We are interested in handling cargos from Kazakhstan and Central Asia, as well as in attracting investments from Kazakhstan in both cargo handling and port operations,” said Raimonds Vējonis.
He also pointed to the potential for the development of air traffic, since the opening of direct flights between Latvia and Kazakhstan would provide significantly more opportunities for closer contacts and intensified cooperation among businesses and individuals.
The officials agreed that there were good opportunities for developing cooperation between Latvia and Kazakhstan in various sectors, such as e-governance, start-up business development, information technology, and clean technologies. The EU-Kazakhstan Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement provides new opportunities for developing relations.
During the conversation with the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, the parties discussed the successful bilateral cooperation in education. Higher education institutions have concluded bilateral cooperation agreements, and a number of Kazakh students is increasing in Latvia, currently forming the sixth largest group of foreign students in Latvia.
The President of Latvia noted the developed political dialogue with Kazakhstan, and he stressed the importance of deepening EU-NATO cooperation with Kazakhstan on issues like support for security and stability in Afghanistan, border security and combating illicit drug trafficking. “We congratulate Kazakhstan for becoming a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. We welcome Kazakhstan’s active involvement in the resolution of international conflicts. Successful international fight against terrorism requires extensive regional and international cooperation,” outlined Raimonds Vējonis.
The President of Latvia pays a visit to Kazakhstan from July 8 to July 11. During the visit, Raimonds Vējonis attended the National Day of Latvia at the international exhibition, EXPO Astana 2017, and he will participate in the opening of the conference “The Vision of Global Transport Movement. Eurasian Potential”.