Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan Maulen Ashimbayev paid a working visit to Turkmenistan. He arrived there to participate in the first Inter-Parliamentary Forum "Central Asia – Russia".
Speaking at the event, Maulen Ashimbayev noted the symbolism of the meeting, which takes place in the year of celebrating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Central Asian states and Russia.
"The Presidents of our countries pay great attention to further strengthening cooperation in various directions. Over these years, an effective model of interstate dialogue, based on mutual respect for the independence of our countries, good neighborliness and unwavering support for each other," said the Speaker of the Senate.
Maulen Ashimbayev emphasized that cooperation between the two parliaments is especially relevant at the current stage when an unprecedented geopolitical tension in the world is still observed. In this regard, Kazakhstan's position remains unchanged - it is the indivisibility of security and has no alternative to a peaceful resolution of international problems on the basis of international law and the principles of the UN Charter. Kazakhstan welcomes any efforts to promote the negotiation process.
"We are certainly interested in ensuring that Central Asia remains a region of peace, stability and prosperity. Central Asia has a number of pressing problems and security challenges related to the situation in Afghanistan, drug trafficking, border problems, limited water resources, and the environment. As part of the inter-parliamentary dialogue, we could discuss these and other issues, develop common constructive approaches to address them," - said Maulen Ashimbayev.
The Chairman of the Senate also informed his fellow parliamentarians in detail about the ongoing reforms in Kazakhstan.
"The constitutional reform is aimed at improving the efficiency and openness of the public administration system. It is supposed to amend one third of the articles of the Constitution and to adopt more than 20 laws by the end of the year. And the upcoming Referendum will allow every citizen to directly participate in the constitutional reform and will strengthen our course towards democratization," the Senate Speaker said.
One of the topics of the forum was medical diplomacy, a new trend that has become important in recent years. According to the OECD, the total damage to the world economy due to the pandemic was $7 trillion by the end of last year. The number of deaths in the world exceeded 6.2 million people. In these circumstances, Maulen Ashimbayev stressed the importance of preparing for new challenges in the future, taking into account the accumulated experience.
"Next year will be the 45th anniversary of the adoption of one of the fundamental documents of the World Health Organization - the Alma-Ata Declaration on Primary Health Care. Within the framework of this date in 2023 it seems perspective to organize round table on medical diplomacy with participation of parliamentarians", - said Chairman of the Senate.
Also at the forum Maulen Ashimbayev urged his colleagues to work closely on solving environmental problems of the region. According to him, it is extremely important to combine efforts in solving environmental problems related to the Aral Sea, as well as to find a mutually beneficial and optimal procedure for joint management of water resources of transboundary rivers, which form the ecosystem of the region.
The forum was also attended by Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, Chairman of the Halk Maslakhaty Milli Gengesh of Turkmenistan, Talant Mamytov, Chairman of the Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic, Valentina Matvienko, Chairman of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, Rustami Emomali, Chairman of the Majlisi Milli of the Republic of Tajikistan and Tanzila Narbaeva, Chairman of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan.
During his working visit, Maulen Ashimbayev was received by the President of Turkmenistan, Serdar Berdymukhamedov. The speaker of the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan conveyed to the Turkmen leader warm words of welcome from the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, as well as discussed issues of inter-parliamentary cooperation between the two countries.
The sides also met with Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, Chairman of the Halk Maslakhaty Milli Gengesh of Turkmenistan, to discuss strengthening and development of bilateral cooperation between Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan through the Parliaments. The parties also touched upon logistical issues. The importance of intensification of joint work in the field of railway, road, water transport in the light of geopolitical tensions was noted.
"Implementation of a unified favorable tariff policy would increase the cargo flow on the routes "Kazakhstan - Turkmenistan - Iran" and "Kazakhstan - Turkmenistan - Afghanistan". This becomes especially relevant in connection with the emerging geopolitical situation. In these and other areas, parliamentarians could actively work together with government agencies to help resolve emerging issues," said Maulen Ashimbayev.
The interlocutors noted that, in general, inter-parliamentary interaction is one of the factors of sustainability of the Kazakh-Turkmen relations. In this regard, Maulen Ashimbayev stressed the need to actively use the potential of parliamentary diplomacy to deepen cooperation between the two countries and "synchronize the watches" on important issues of the bilateral, regional and international agenda.
The same day, the Senate Speaker Maulen Ashimbayev flew to Tajikistan to participate in a meeting of the Commission on Cooperation between the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan and the Majlisi Milli Majlisi Oli of Tajikistan.
(Senate Press Service, 74-72-27. Photo by N. Baibulin)
