ADDS REMARKS BY PRESIDENTS
By Burc Eruygur
ISTANBUL (AA) - Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan on Wednesday signed a strategic partnership deal on the development and transmission of green energy.
The agreement was signed during a trilateral meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on the sidelines of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, said an Azerbaijani presidential statement.
According to the statement, another signing ceremony took place with Aliyev, Tokayev and Mirziyoyev’s participation on the establishment of an executive program between the three countries’ energy ministries and that of Saudi Arabia on cooperation in development and transmission of green energy.
A meeting was also held between the three Turkic leaders and Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman after the ceremony.
"The document opens up new opportunities for the integration of the energy systems of our states, as well as the creation of reliable corridors for the supply of environmentally friendly energy to the European (market) and other markets," Tokayev was quoted as saying at the signing ceremony by the Kazakh presidential press service Akorda.
Calling the signing of the document an important stage in trilateral cooperation in developing Central Asia and the South Caucasus, Tokayev said that the practical results of the agreement will also contribute to the development of the Middle Corridor as a bridge connecting the economy of the three countries.
For his part, Mirziyoyev underlined the environmental significance of the deal, expressing that wind and solar energy will be transmitted between the three countries, which will help mitigate the impact on the climate.
Separately, Aliyev said that the agreement signed takes the relations and strategic partnership between Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan to a new level.
Azerbaijani presidential aide Hikmet Hajiyev on X described the signing of the document as "one of the important deliverables of COP29 at the regional and trans-regional level."
"The project will also be linked with the Black Sea energy cable. New green energy corridor in the making," Hajiyev said.
COP29 is being held in the Azerbaijan capital from Nov. 11 to 22.