The president of Kazakhstan, Mr Nursultan Nazarbayev, and the president of Uzbekistan, Mr Shavkat Mirziyoyev, signed the strategic cooperative agreement between the two railways during the Kazakh-Uzbek Business Forum held in Tashkent on September 16.

The document aims to achieve further long-term cooperation in order to increase the competitiveness of international transport routes passing through the two countries.

The total value of the contracts is estimated at more than $US 320m.