Kyrgyz president arrives in Brussels to meet with EU leadership
BRUSSELS. April 11 (Interfax) - Kyrgyz President Sooronbai Jeenbekov arrived on his first working visit to Brussels on Wednesday in order to meet with the leadership of the European Union and discuss the draft of the new Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between Kyrgyzstan and the EU, the presidential press service said.
Jeenbekov is planning to meet with High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, European Council President Donald Tusk, and European Parliament President Antonio Tajani during the visit.
Jeenbekov's first visit to Brussels is aimed at establishing personal contacts with the leadership of the EU, as well as giving political momentum to negotiations on the draft of the new Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between Kyrgyzstan and the EU, Daniyar Sydykov, the head of the foreign policy department of the Kyrgyz Presidential Administration, told reporters. Negotiations on the new agreement began in December 2017.
The attraction of investment to priority sectors of Kyrgyzstan's development and increasing the efficiency of the use of preferences as part of the Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP+, the system of customs tariffs on goods exported from developing economics to mature ones) will be discussed during the visit, he said.
Prospects for cooperation in light of the long-term Sustained Development Strategy until 2040 currently under development and the provision of support to the Clear Water project will also be discussed.
The current visit is a follow-up to "the existing constructive dialogue with EU institutions; the president's current visit once again shows that Kyrgyzstan attaches priority significance to cooperation with the European Union," Sydykov said.
"We consider the European Union our important partner and are ready for closer interaction," he said.