An agreement on cooperation between the Foundation of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) was signed during the official visit of Kazakhstan’s Mazhilis (lower chamber of parliament) delegation to China. “Nowadays, our state, particularly the parliament, actively implements missions of the Kazakhstan 2050 Strategy. We are very interested in the Chinese experience in the fields of health care, education and social security, both in existing problems and their solutions. We are keen to get acquainted with our colleagues and cooperate with them in the future,” said head of the delegation, Deputy Chair of the Mazhilis Dariga Nazarbayeva at the meeting with CPAFFC President Li Xiaolin. Li underlined that the association sought to enhance bilateral cultural and humanitarian cooperation, as well as promote the development of the Silk Road economic belt. The parties also said to have reached an agreement on mutual provision of land for building diplomatic missions. Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov stated that Kazakhstan will provide the Chinese with a parcel of land in Astana for construction of the Chinese embassy, while the Chinese will provide two pieces of land in Beijing to construct the Kazakh embassy and residence for the ambassador.
Croatian First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Vesna Pusic announced that her country would open an embassy in Kazakhstan during an Oct. 29 meeting with Kazakh Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov in Astana. “Kazakhstan has received high assessments for its investment climate, which facilitates Croatia’s mission. We are also working on developing relations between the business circles of the two states. To this end, we are opening a diplomatic mission in Astana next year, which will eventually transform into a permanent Croatian embassy,” said Pusic. Preparations for President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s visit to Croatia are going well, she added. The Croatian president received an invitation from Nazarbayev to participate in EXPO 2017 and is conducting negotiations on cooperation in the energy industry, Pusic reported. At the end of the meeting, the parties signed an action plan between the two foreign ministries.
A Kazakh delegation headed by Chairman of the Mazhilis Committee on Legislation and Legal Reform Rakhmet Mukashev visited the Netherlands Oct. 23-28. The delegation also included Mazhilis Deputy Svetlana Bychkova and Deputy Prosecutor General Zhakyp Assanov. The visit was organised by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Centre in Astana, as well as the international organisation Penal Reform International (PRI) with the support of the Kazakh embassy in The Hague. The purpose of the visit was to expand mutually-beneficial cooperation between the two countries, including a detailed study of the Dutch experience in humanisation of the penal system through the use of probation services. The Kazakh delegation had a number of bilateral meetings with the leaders of Dutch-authorised bodies, in particular Vice President of the Senate of the Parliament Hans Franken, Secretary General of the European Probation Organisation Willem van der Brugge and judge and concurrently chief coordinator of electronic monitoring of convicts Michel van der Veen. The delegation also visited a number of specialised penitentiary centres and other institutions.
