Bishkek, April 4, 2025. /Kabar/. President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Zhaparov delivered a speech at a meeting of the First Central Asia - European Union Summit in Samarkand on Friday.
The event was attended by President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov, as well as President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and President of the European Council António Costa.
In his speech, President Zhaparov emphasized that deepening mutually beneficial cooperation with close neighbors is one of the main priorities of Kyrgyzstan's foreign policy. Close interaction between Central Asian countries plays a key role in ensuring security and sustainable development in the region.
"In 2022, we signed a historic agreement with Uzbekistan on the legal registration of the state border. Now the length of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border has been fully agreed upon.
During the recent historic visit of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon to Bishkek, an agreement on the state border was signed, which was ratified on March 25 of this year.
This important event was received with great enthusiasm by both the peoples of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, as well as the wider international community, symbolizing a new stage in the development of bilateral relations based on mutual trust, respect and the desire for peaceful coexistence," Sadyr Zhaparov noted.
He recalled that in continuation of strengthening measures to ensure peace and stability in our region, a trilateral meeting of the presidents of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan was held on March 31.
As part of the event, a trilateral Agreement on the junction point of the state borders of the three countries was signed.
The head of state noted with satisfaction the steady growth of trade and economic ties between the countries of Central Asia and the European Union.
"Over the past four years, Kyrgyzstan's trade turnover with the countries of the European Union has increased by 2.4 times, including imports - by 2.6 times, exports - by 1.5 times.
Such successes became possible due to the openness of markets and the Generalized System of Preferences Plus initiative, which provides access for goods from Kyrgyzstan to the markets of 27 EU member states," said Sadyr Zhaparov.
He emphasized that Kyrgyzstan's strategic geographical position and its growing transit potential open up broad prospects for trade and investment and called on European businesses to take an active part in these projects on a mutually beneficial basis.
"We invite European partners to join large-scale hydropower projects being implemented in Kyrgyzstan.
A special place in our plans is occupied by the flagship project of Kambar-Ata HPP-1. We have already begun construction of this large hydropower plant with a design capacity of 1,860 MW and a projected output of 5.6 billion kWh per year.
This project is being implemented jointly with our neighbors Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan," the president noted.
In his speech, the head of state also indicated that Kyrgyzstan is interested in expanding cooperation with the European Union in the field of renewable energy and energy-efficient technologies.
"Over the past year, we have commissioned 18 small hydropower plants, and this year we are building another 15 such facilities. In parallel, we have launched solar energy projects with a total capacity of over 400 MW.
In the context of global climate change, the transition to a green economy and the development of renewable energy sources is our only path to sustainable development," Sadyr Zhaparov said.
In the context of developing cooperation in the field of infrastructure development and the creation of modern transport corridors, the head of state welcomed the initiative of the European Union to invest in the development of sustainable transport connectivity in Central Asia for a total of 10 billion euros.
"Another promising area of cooperation is the development of critical raw materials. Kyrgyzstan has significant reserves of rare and valuable metals. We propose to intensify cooperation in this area, formalizing it in the format of a separate partnership or road map, similar to what has already been done between the European Union and some of our neighbors (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan)," the head of state noted.
In conclusion, President Sadyr Zhaparov emphasized that Kyrgyzstan is determined to deepen partnership with the European Union in all of the listed areas and expressed confidence that new specific agreements will emerge as a result of today's meeting, which gives additional impetus to relations between Central Asia and the European Union.