Embassy of Kazakhstan in Saudi Arabia in cooperation with the Center of Information and Arabian-Russian Studies (CIARS), hosted the Round Table dedicated to the State-of-the-Nation Address of the President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev «Economic Course of a Just Kazakhstan», DKNews.kz reports.
The Round Table was attended by Majed Al-Turki, the Chairman of CIARS, scientists and leading experts of Imam Mohammad ibn Saud Islamic University, King Saud University, CIARS, other Saudi research centers and representatives of the local and regional media.
In his speech, Ambassador Berik Aryn told about the current economic and political reforms of President Tokayev, aimed at ensuring sustainable economic growth and the well-being of citizens. In this context, Ambassador informed about the main provisions of the State-of-the-Nation Address of the President Tokayev, drawing attention to the fact that it reflects the main vectors of development of the economy and modern civil society of the country.
The Kazakh diplomat noted that the President has set important goals for economic modernization, which should ensure stable economic growth at the level of 6-7% to double the volume of the national economy by 2029, including the tasks in the field of industrial production, “green” economic transformation, digitalization and IT projects, food and environmental security.
Aryn also briefed about the joint measures and upcoming plans for the development of Kazakh-Saudi cooperation, including the activation of trade economic, and investment ties and increase in tourist flow.
In his turn, the Chairman of CIARS, Majed Al-Turki emphasized the importance of the initiatives in the State-of-the-Nation Address of President Tokayev to ensure the progressive development of Kazakhstan and drew attention to the fact that the basis of the presidential Address is the continuity and consistency of the systemic vision of the political development of the country, as well as a combination of political and economic reforms.
He also mentioned that in many aspects, Kazakhstan holds a leading position in Central Asia, which is mainly due to the country's leadership's far-sighted, open and pragmatic policy. Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia have common interests in deepening bilateral cooperation, as well as similar positions on several international and regional issues.
Researcher of International Relations Ouazen positively assessed the main provisions of the State-of-the-Nation Address. According to him, “an important problem in the Address is the issue of solving food security. Today, against geopolitical turmoil in the world arena, for many countries is important to provide the population with essential products. And in solving this problem Kazakhstan, as an agricultural country could play a key role.”
The expert of CIARS Ad-Dakan, drew attention to the relevance of resolving water issues in the region, where Kazakhstan also holds a leading position in the number of lakes and rivers in Central Asia. At the same time, in his opinion, rational use of water resources could assist in solving this important problem of the modern world, which is faced by Saudi Arabia.
General Director of SAS Logistics Company Munee Al-Khiliaoui noted the importance of the Address not only for Kazakhstan but also for the Arab Gulf region, given the fact that it touches upon the development of transport and logistics cooperation.
In general, the new economic course and political transformations in Kazakhstan, which was mentioned in the State-of-the-Nation Address of President Tokayev, aroused great interest in the Saudi expert community. In their opinion, similar large-scale reforms in the socio-economic sphere are currently taking place in Saudi Arabia. Successful implementation of these measures will allow to ensure the quality of life and growth of the social well-being of citizens in the current difficult geopolitical conditions.
During the round table, experts also discussed the results of the First Interregional Summit of Heads of State “Central Asia – Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf”, which was successfully held in July of this year in Jeddah. In this regard, it was noted that the results of this important international event and the visit of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Tokayev to Saudi Arabia will have a positive impact on bilateral relations and will give additional impetus to interregional interaction.
The participants of the event highly appreciated the initiative of the Embassy to hold a Round table and agreed to continue such meetings to develop joint proposals to strengthen bilateral cooperation.
