India, Kazakhstan ink protocol to take bilateral economic ties forward

India, Kazakhstan ink protocol to take bilateral economic ties forward India and Kazakhstan have inked a new protocol to take bilateral ties, especially in trade and economic relations, forward. The protocol was signed after both sides participated in the fifth Kazakh-Indian Joint Working Group on trade and economic cooperation here on Friday. An Embassy of Kazakhstan media release said both

sides discussed prospects for further cooperation in areas such as trade, energy, investment promotion, development of industry, transport and logistics, tourism, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, information technologies, mining textiles and industry, besides cooperation within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union and the North-South International Transport Corridor. The Director of the International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kairat Torebayev, and his Indian counterpart, Sunil Kumar, who is the Director (CIS Countries) in the Ministry of Commerce, signed the protocol on behalf of their respective governments. It was agreed that the next JWG meeting would be held next year in Kazakhstan. A bilateral meeting between the Director of the Department of Tourism Industry of the Ministry of Investment and Development of Kazakhstan, Marat Igaliev, and the Director of Tourism of the Ministry of International Cooperation, Suman Billa was also organised by the embassy, which is headed by Ambassador Bulat Sarsenbayev. During the meeting, both parties discussed possibilities of cooperation between two countries in tourism and working within the framework of next year's EXPO-2017. The Kazakhstan delegation included representatives of the Ministry of National Economy, the Ministry of Investment and Development, Ministry of Energy and their structural units, as well as representatives of several national and private companies, said the embassy release.