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Erlan Idrisov and Edgars Rinkevics. Riga, 29.01.2014. Photo: flickr.com

Relations with Central Asia are one of Latvia's top priorities for the EU Council presidency period.

During the meeting, the ministers discussed the developments in the EU and Kazakhstan, and Rinkevics confirmed that Latvia would continue to assist Kazakhstan in the development of relations with the EU during the next two to three years. He expressed support for liberalization of the visa regime and said Latvia was prepared to contribute to Kazakhstan's accession to the World Trade Organization.

"We discussed bilateral matters as well as the situation in the region and the world," said Rinkevics, noting that he and Idrisov had talked about the situation in Afghanistan, Iran and China.

The Kazakh minister said Kazakhstan deemed cooperation with Latvia as highly important. Kazakhstan is a long-time partner of Latvia, and Latvia, being an EU member state interested in cooperation with eastern countries, presents a solid foundation for further development of the cooperation.

Also yesterday, Idrisov met with President Andris Berzins. He emphasized that Berzins' visit to Kazahstan and subsequent activities were seen as important for the development of Latvian-Kazakh cooperation, LETA learned from President's Press Office.

Idrisov congratulated Berzins on Latvia's accession to the eurozone and said it would contribute to Latvia's economic development as well as cooperation with Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan considers the cooperation with Latvia to be of great importance, and views Lavia as an important partner in the transit and logistics sector, as well as in helping Kazakhstan expand relations with the EU, which has already become Kazakhstan's largest trade partner, he said.

Idrisov went on to say that Kazakhstan, being located in the very heart of Eurasia, pursued a foreign policy based on the development of pragmatic and predictable relations with all neighbor countries, as well as with the United States and EU. In this respect, it is important for Kazakhstan to be recognized by the EU as a market economy. Kazakhstan has already started work on upgrading the legal framework for expanding partnership and cooperation with the EU, and wishes to achieve visa-free travel with Schengen countries.

Berzins confirmed that Latvia supported Kazakhstan's endeavors and considered Kazakhstan an important partner to not only Latvia but the entire EU. That is why consolidating relations with the Central Asia countries could be among Latvia's priorities during the country's presidency at the EU Council in the first half of 2015. Berzins said the two countries had developed successful cooperation and could pursue closer cooperation in such areas as trade, transport, pharmaceutics industry, food industry, IT services, higher education, agriculture, mechanical engineering and metalworking, renewable energy and others.

Both officials agreed that air transportation would play an important role in deepening both countries' cooperation in transport, with Berzins emphasizing the importance of Riga Airport and regional airfields.