ASTANA –The Malaysian Ambassador to Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan government representatives and other dignitaries gathered at the Radisson Hotel on Sept. 16to celebrate Malaysia’s 50th Independence Day.
The celebration included statements by H.E.Ambassador of Malaysia Dato’ Ahmad Rasidi Hazizi and Kazakhstan Director of the International Relations Department under the Ministry of Economy and Budget Kairat Torebayev, as well as musical performances involving the Kazakhstan national instrument,kobyz.
Kazakhstan and Malaysia share a lot in common. Both are Multi-ethnic andmulti-confessional with rapidly growing economies eager to trade with one another.
“Malaysia is considered as one of the most important partners of Kazakhstan among Asian countries. We value the confidential nature of the relationship between our two countries,”said Torebayev during the event.
“Today, economic developments of our countries allocate Malaysia and Kazakhstan as leaders in the region of South-East Asia and Central Asia, respectively. Therefore, the current state of economic cooperation between the two countries is not consistent with the existing significant potential of both countries,” he underlined.
Malaysia is also an observer in the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), which is a multi-national forum initiated by Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev on Oct. 5 1992 at the 47th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
“The visit to Kazakhstan by the Honourable Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib Razak in 2011 followed by the visit to Malaysia by President Nursultan Nazarbayev in 2012, has provided the necessary political framework for enhanced bilateral engagement,”Ambassador Hazizi said.
“Malaysia is now home to about 4,000 Kazakh students who are not only pursuing higher education at various levels, but also at formative levels. In 2012 alone, over 20,000 Kazakh tourists visited Malaysia, taking advantage of our visa-free travel regime,” the ambassador said, noting that the Malaysian side awaits reciprocal action from Kazakhstan.
