Kazakhstan appoints ambassador to Turkmenistan

Yerkebulan Sapiyev has been appointed the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Kazakhstan to Turkmenistan, Trend reports referring to a promulgated decree of the president of Kazakhstan.

Diplomatic relations between Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan were established in October 1992.

Ashgabat and Nur-Sultan are discussing the prospects of trade and economic partnership, development of the legal framework, cooperation in gas sector, agriculture, development of transboundary mineral deposits, transport, environment and fisheries.

Kazakhstan is involved in a major project for transportation of Central Asian gas to China. China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has been purchasing Turkmen fuel since 2009 through the territory of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

In addition, in December 2014, the construction of the transnational railway line Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran was completed. According to preliminary estimates, the annual volume of traffic may total 10-12 million tons of cargo. This trade route enables cargo transportation to the countries of the Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean and Europe.

In 2016, Kazakhstan joined the Central Asia-Middle East (Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Iran-Oman) transport corridor project. The new corridor will allow the Central Asian countries to connect to ports in the Persian and Oman gulfs via the optimal route.

Cooperation prospects in customs, transport by road, rail and sea and joint investments are being assessed at the level of experts.