President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan signed a law ratifying the agreement between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Government of the Republic of Korea in the field of development, financing, design, construction, operation and maintenance of Balkhash Thermal Power Plant, the presidential press service reported. The intergovernmental agreement is aimed at the development of cooperation between Kazakhstan and the Republic of Korea, and the successful implementation of the construction of the Balkhash Thermal Power Plant project in Kazakhstan.
A delegation of the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan headed by the Deputy Chairman of the Chamber of Alexander Sudin visited the cities of Washington and New York May 6 to May 10 in order to strengthen Kazakh-American inter-parliamentary relations, according to the press service of the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan. During the visit, Kazakhstan Senators Alexander Sudin, Serik Akylbai and Khusain Valiev met parliamentarians and representatives of the U.S. Department of State. The Kazakhstan senators opened an exhibition in Washington dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions. A meeting with U.S. religious figures and Alliance of Civilizations of the United Nations representative Nassir Al-Nasser also took place in New York.
Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, the UK Senior Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs paid a visit to Kazakhstan on May 7. During the visit, she shared views on development of bilateral relations between the UK and Kazakhstan. The visit was her third ministerial visit to Kazakhstan. She noted that nowadays the UK and Kazakhstan have solid bilateral and mutually beneficial relations, which are successful at all levels. “There are bright examples of cooperation in the sphere of education, when we see that Kazakhstan youth is studying in the UK. Many British companies operate in Kazakhstan, which is a worthy indicator of our cooperation. Our Government highly estimates the Kazakhstan market potential,” Sayeeda Warsi noted. She also commented that the UK is interested in further cooperation with Kazakhstan in promotion of human rights.
Mazhilis Chairman Nurlan Nigmatulin received British Ambassador to Kazakhstan Carolyn Browne to discuss continuing partnerships between the countries, the press service of the Mazhilis reported on April 29. Special attention was paid to issues regarding regional security. Nigmatulin emphasized the cooperation of the two countries in the transit of military personnel and equipment engaged in operations of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. Issues of inter-parliamentary cooperation were addressed at the meeting as well. As the Mazhilis speaker noted, the experience of British colleagues in the legislative provision of reforms was of special interest. The sides reached an agreement to take practical steps for the activation of cooperation between the parliamentary groups. The UK is among the biggest investors in the economy of Kazakhstan. The two countries also actively cooperate in the spheres of education and science. Presently, about 4,000 Kazakhstan students study in British higher education institutions, including over 1,000 of them under the Bolashak programme.
According to the Committee for Combating Drugs and Control over Drug Trafficking of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan, a meeting of the heads of competent authorities of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on combating drugs and drugs trafficking took place on April 30. Officials discussed issues related to this sphere and the impact on the situation from the expected withdrawal of the troops from Afghanistan. The sides discussed strengthening cooperation between SCO member states in combating drug trafficking.
