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The official welcoming ceremony for Vladimir Putin, hosted by President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov, took place at the Ala Archa State Residence.

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The beginning of Russian-Kyrgyz talks

President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov: President Putin, members of the delegation,

I wholeheartedly welcome you and members of the Russian delegation to Bishkek.

First of all, I would like to say that your visit has a major symbolic meaning because it is held on the 20th anniversary of the Kant Air Force Base and the 30th anniversary of Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University. These singular events in our bilateral relations are the symbols of our friendship.

We highly value the strategic partnership and allied relations between Russia and Kyrgyzstan. A few weeks ago, on Knowledge Day, marked on September 1, we attended the ceremony to launch the construction of the first three Russian-language schools in Kyrgyzstan. I am confident that the future graduates of these schools will make a large contribution to the strengthening of Russian-Kyrgyz relations.

In this context, I would like to note the active growth of contacts and exchanges between our countries departments and regions, as well as people-to-people diplomacy, namely

Memory Train, Scarlet Sails and concerts by the masters and young ballet professionals in Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Kurgan and Kazan. Fifteen students will visit Russia soon within the framework of the Interdom for Children of Kyrgyzstan project.

We also appreciate the recent visit by the leaders of the Russian Government, the Emergencies Ministry, the Foreign Ministry, the Russian National Guard and other delegations to Bishkek.

It is notable that development of our common future is based on the solid foundation of the traditional relations of friendship. We have the basis and good prospects for strengthening relations of alliance and strategic partnership between Russia and Kyrgyzstan.

Mr President, you have the floor. Please.

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Friends, colleagues.

First of all, I would like to thank the President for the invitation.

We had really good reasons to meet, but even without them, this visit is long overdue, and we have been talking about this for a long time. I am delighted to be in Kyrgyzstan today.

We highly appreciate the work done by Kyrgyzstan during its chairmanship of the Commonwealth of Independent States, and Russia is taking over the baton from Kyrgyzstan; it will chair the CIS in 2024.

We also have a busy bilateral agenda. Indeed, as my colleague has just noted, there are dates that should be given enough attention, and overall, our ties are expanding successfully.

In this regard, our delegation’s agenda is also full. We will take part in events dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Russian military base in Kant.

As for economic cooperation, Russia is one of Kyrgyzstan’s leading trade and economic partners. Last year, bilateral trade increased by 37 percent to a record high of almost $3.5 billion and added another 17.9 percent in the first half of this year.

Russia is the largest investor in the Kyrgyz economy, accounting for about 36 percent of accumulated foreign direct investment in that country. There are 800 companies with Russian capital in the republic.

Our intergovernmental commission is carrying out this work. Its Russian co-chair is Mr Overchuk, who is on my left, and on the Kyrgyz side, Prime Minister Japarov. We believe that the work is going well. The intergovernmental programme of economic cooperation until 2026 is in progress.

The business council met shortly before our meeting, reaffirming the interest of businesses on both sides in joint projects in energy, industry, agriculture, and high technology.

Region-to-region ties are also growing fast. More than 80 Russian regions are actively cooperating with all seven regions of Kyrgyzstan. The 10th Russia-Kyrgyzstan interregional conference took place yesterday, and I think it was very useful. The groundbreaking ceremony for the Friendship Park of the Regions of Russia and Kyrgyzstan was also held there. Those are significant and very positive steps.

I would like to conclude my opening remarks now, and as we have agreed, we will give the floor to our colleagues who can tell us in more detail about every area of our cooperation.

Thank you very much.

Sadyr Japarov: Very well, thank you.

Mr President,

The expanding trade, economic and investment ties with Russia certainly play a key role for us. In this regard, we are committed to increasing bilateral trade.

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