I welcoming remarks

Speech by Daniyar Sydykov, Ambassador Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary of the Kyrgyz Republic to Uzbekistan
Dear Abdulaziz Hafizovich!
Dear participants of the conference, ladies and gentlemen!
The meeting of Presidents Shavkat Mirziyoyev and
Almazbek Atambaev on December 24, 2016, in Samarkand
opened a new page in the relations between the two countries. It
is very symbolic that on the day of the visit, the Agreement
between the Kyrgyz Republic and the Republic of Uzbekistan on
eternal friendship celebrated its 20th anniversary, and next year
our countries will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the
establishment of diplomatic relations.
The talks that took place in a constructive manner gave
impetus to the work on strengthening and expanding trade,
economic, cultural and humanitarian ties with each other, and on
the delimitation and demarcation of the state borders. Between
the parties there is more understanding, openness and trust. And it
is not by chance that after this meeting, we say that the issues
with the Uzbek side are being resolved in the "Samarkand spirit".
After the Samarkand meeting, our Presidents met twice in
Beijing and Astana where they "synchronized watches" on many
topical issues of bilateral cooperation which is gradually gaining
momentum. At present, together with our Uzbek colleagues, we
are studying the visit of President Almazbek Atambayev to the
Republic of Uzbekistan and conducting a Kyrgyz-Uzbek business
forum and exhibition of achievements in Tashkent.
Cooperation between the border regions of Kyrgyzstan and
Uzbekistan intensified. We witnessed how brotherly Uzbekistan
responded to Kyrgyzstan's proposal to carry out the Ferghana
Forum between the border regions. Thanks to this, in October
2016, the delegations of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan headed by
vice prime ministers conducted mutual visits to the cities of
Andijan and Osh. During these visits, Memoranda of

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Understanding were signed between the border regions of
Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan on further deepening and
development of cooperation, on cooperation between the Osh
State University of Kyrgyzstan and the Andijan State University
of Uzbekistan. As a result, mutual visits of frontier state
structures (local government bodies, law enforcement, border and
customs authorities) have intensified, many issues touching upon
the rights and legitimate interests of the population living in the
border areas of both countries came to be more effective and
timely resolved. It was decided to develop a Program of cross-
border cooperation between the Kyrgyz Republic and the
Republic of Uzbekistan.
Meetings of the governmental working groups of
Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan on demarcation and delimitation of
state borders are conducted regularly and productively. The
meetings of foreign ministers, their deputies, ambassadors in
Bishkek and Tashkent were intensified. Within a short period of
time, political consultations between the ministries of foreign
affairs, negotiations on consular issues and information support
and inventory of the bilateral legal framework which includes
139 legal instruments between our countries were carried out.
Regular contacts are maintained at the level of prime
ministers and vice prime ministers. Within the framework of
interdepartmental cooperation, meetings were held at the
ministries of the interior, transport, economy, culture, information
and tourism. In Osh, a regular meeting of law enforcement
agencies on the implementation of an intergovernmental
agreement on cooperation in combating crime was carried out.
At the same time, parliamentary cooperation between the
two countries is developing. Thus, Kyrgyzstan's parliamentarians,
as international observers, took an active part in the elections of
the President of Uzbekistan on December 4, 2016, while noting
the high level of organization, openness and transparency. In turn,
the Uzbek delegation from among the deputies of the Oliy Majlis

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was an observer at a referendum on introducing amendments and
additions to the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic on
December 16, 2016. The Kyrgyz side hopes that the Uzbek
delegation will be represented at the same level in the election of
the President of the Kyrgyz Republic on the upcoming October
15 of this year.
Trade and economic cooperation is advancing in the
“Samarkand spirit”. Thus, the trade turnover between our
countries for the first half of 2017 increased by 1.8 times
compared to the same period of the last year. These figures are of
course insignificantly small compared with the potential that
exists between our countries. This should be facilitated by the
ratification by Kyrgyzstan of the Free Trade Agreement with
Uzbekistan. Accordingly, we are currently considering the sphere
of development of trade and economic relations, including the
implementation of joint investment projects with Uzbekistan as
one of the priority areas. Concrete results of joint work in this
direction were the participation of the Kyrgyz delegation at the
International Uzbek tourist exhibition "World of Rest", during
which more than 200 contracts worth $ 2.5 million were signed
between the tourism operators of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, as
well as the commencement of the first charter flight "Tashkent-
Issykul" on 4 July of this year, by which the Uzbek delegation
headed by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan
was arrived. Also, certain events are planned to increase aviation
communications between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
Regular 
meetings 
of 
the 
Joint 
Kyrgyz-Uzbek
Intergovernmental 
Commission 
on 
Trade-Economic 
and
Cultural-Humanitarian Cooperation and an intergovernmental
commission for the delimitation and demarcation of state borders
on August 16-17 this year will serve for the growth of trade
turnover between our countries. We are grateful to the Uzbek side
that the high-level official - the Prime Minister of the Republic of
Uzbekistan Mr. Aripov Abdulla Nigmatovich has been appointed

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the co-chair of the Intergovernmental Commission. Supporting
this decision, the Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic was also
appointed 
co-chairman 
of 
the 
Kyrgyz