ASTANA – The leaders of Kazakhstan and Qatar met in Astana on Jan. 19 during Emir Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani’s official visit to Astana.
During a meeting at the Ak Orda presidential palace, President Nursultan Nazarbayev and his guest discussed the main areas of bilateral cooperation, in particular, investment, trade and economics, noting diverse prospects for cooperation between the two nations.
“I congratulate you on taking up the high position of Emir of Qatar and wish you good health and success,” President Nazarbayev told his Qatari counterpart. “We had a few meetings with Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, your father. He visited Kazakhstan several times and I visited Qatar. We are interested in building effective relations, particularly in economics. The economies of our countries share some structural commonalities. In terms of volume of oil and gas, Qatar is one of the leading countries worldwide. Kazakhstan is also generously endowed with natural resources. Because of this commonality, we share many potential areas of cooperation.”
The Emir expressed gratitude for the meeting and warm hospitality and extended greetings from his father Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.
“Since gaining its independence, Kazakhstan has increased its economy to $230 billion. Despite the current economic crisis, Kazakhstan’s GDP growth has reached 6 percent [last year]. Today, Kazakhstan is one of the fastest growing economies in the world,” the President of Kazakhstan said during the meeting.
The guest said he was looking forward to further developing cooperation between the two countries. He also noted that the parties will maintain discussions on bilateral issues and the regional situation.
During the visit, several documents were signed by the parties, including an agreement on avoiding double taxation with respect to income taxes, a cooperation agreement between Tau Ken Samruk national company and the Qatar Mining Company, as well as a memorandum of understanding between the Samruk-Kazyna National Welfare Fund and the Qatar Investment Fund.
