President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko is confident that Asia, in the current global situation, should not miss the moment and should more boldly assume leadership functions. He stated this at a meeting with President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, which took place in Astana on the sidelines of the summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), a BELTA correspondent reports.
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko is confident that Asia, in the current global situation, should not miss the moment and should more boldly assume leadership functions. He stated this at a meeting with President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, which took place in Astana on the sidelines of the summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), a BELTA correspondent reports.
"Thank you very much for the invitation. I truly and sincerely not just feel, but I believe, as I said today, that the time for Asia is coming. Asia, the East – people are very meticulous, cautious, and considered. This behaviour of Asia should not become a reason for Asia to miss this moment. Everyone is now looking for someone to rely on. And it so happened that the SCO and your organisation (CICA. - BELTA's note), which was created on the initiative of Kazakhstan here (Nursultan Nazarbayev in 1992), are, I must say, powerful. And the fact that you are now developing this organisation, turning it into a global one, is very correct. Therefore, you should more boldly take the reins of the world into your hands and manage," said the President of Belarus.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev emphasised that he was pleased to see Alexander Lukashenko, especially in Astana, and thanked him for his contribution to the summit's work.
The President of Kazakhstan stated that Asia is showing very good results in its development, and it is undoubtedly a region with a great future in terms of economy. "Of course, China is the locomotive of Asia. But there are other states as well," he noted. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev specifically mentioned Vietnam, which was also represented at the summit. It is a country with a large and rapidly developing economy.
Alexander Lukashenko agreed with this thesis, but also noted the significant role of Kazakhstan in Asia. "You said that, yes, there are very serious major states in this organization. But I do not consider Kazakhstan to be a small state, incapable of contributing to Asian organizations dominating the world today. And you have done a lot for this," he stressed.
"The numbers speak for themselves. Our GDP will be almost $190 billion this year. This is more than the economies of all of Central Asia. I am not saying this to boast. This is a statistical fact," the Kazakh leader agreed.
Regarding bilateral relations with Belarus, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev assured that everything possible would be done on his part to ensure that effective and multifaceted cooperation continues to develop.
"We are absolutely настроены on a positive mood and tone. I constantly tell government members that we need to do everything possible to increase this volume. Whether it is trade, investment cooperation, joint projects. In principle, there is no reason to sound the alarm, nothing terrible is happening. We just need to use the existing opportunities. You know them better, as you have been in the know for a long time," said the President of Kazakhstan.
Source: belta.by