Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev arrived in Jeddah on a two-day official visit at the invitation of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia.
At the airport, the Kazakh leader was greeted by Faisal bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz, Governor of Makkah Region and Adviser to the King Salman and Abdulrahman AlFadley, Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture.
Then presidential motorcade proceeded to the King's Al-Salam Palace, where an official welcome ceremony was held.
The Head of the Guard of Honour gave a report to the two leaders. After the national anthems of Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia were performed, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman introduced the members of official delegations. Then the President and the Crown Prince proceeded to the palace to hold negotiations.
Welcoming Mohammed bin Salman, the Kazakh leader thanked the King of Saudi Arabia and the Crown Prince for their invitation and hospitality. As Kassym-Jomart Tokayev stressed, this visit has a special significance for him as it is the first time he is visiting Saudi Arabia as President. He emphasized that Saudi Arabia is one of Kazakhstan’s leading strategic partners.
“Saudi Arabia was one of the first countries to have recognized Kazakhstan's independence. Over this period our cooperation in many areas has been strengthened. The Kazakh-Saudi relations are now at a high level. However, we would like to give a new impetus to cooperation. This decision meets the common interests of our countries. I am confident that our mutually beneficial relations will continue to strengthen in the future,” the President said.
During the talks the two leaders discussed trade, economic and investment cooperation. Kazakhstan stands ready to offer special conditions and a wide range of preferences for Saudi investors in various promising areas of mutual interest.
The sides affirmed their intention to substantially increase mutual trade turnover. The two governments will intensify work in this direction soon.
Mohammed bin Salman highlighted the good level of relations between our countries and noted the great potential for their further strengthening and development. He stressed the need to increase activity in this direction. The Bussines Council plays an important role in these efforts, which brings together businesses of Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia.
The Crown Prince said that the largest companies of the Kingdom will take part in the work of the Investment Roundtable scheduled as part of President Tokayev’s visit.
According to him, in the current situation, joint work on a number of projects comes to the fore, which will be coordinated by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.
In particular, Mohammed bin Salman expressed the interest of Saudi companies to invest in the Kazakh agriculture sector. According to him, this area is of particular significance amid the global food crisis.
Kazakhstan’s leader invited the Crown Prince to pay a reciprocal state visit to Kazakhstan. In turn, Mohammed bin Salman said that he gladly accepts the invitation and ready to visit Kazakhstan in order to discuss the concrete results of the implementation of the agreements reached.
