Kazakhstan, Poland discuss UNSC cooperation
ASTANA – Delegations led by Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister Yerzhan Ashikbayev and Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Joanna Wronecka recently discussed cooperation within the United Nations Security Council at a meeting in Warsaw. According to the Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the sides discussed agreements reached during a Sept. 6 meeting in Astana between the countries’…
Nazarbayev proposes CIS modernisation, notes need for EAEU digitisation at Sochi summits
ASTANA – Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev proposed measures to modernise the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) organisation during the Oct. 11 CIS Council of Heads of State meeting in Sochi, Russia. Nazarbayev also proposed during the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council (SEEC) meeting a gathering in 2018 to discuss digitisation of member states and noted the…
Russian FM visits Kazakhstan, participates in MGIMO alumni forum
ASTANA – Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Kazakh counterpart Kairat Abdrakhmanov discussed preparations for the Nov. 9 14th Interregional Cooperation Forum in Chelyabinsk and attended the 4th International Forum of Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) alumni during Lavrov’s Oct. 6 visit to Kazakhstan. Abdrakhmanov said the interregional forum and the cross-border…
Kazakhstan to export 5 billion cubic metres of gas to China
ASTANA – China recently agreed to a deal with KazTransGas to import 5 billion cubic metres of Kazakh natural gas during one calendar year, according to KazTransGas press service. The deal was signed between KazTransGas, which stands to earn $1 billion from the deal, and PetroChina International Company Limited with shipments to the Khorgos border…
Kazakhstan, Latvia launch container service along China-to-Europe transcontinental route
ASTANA – Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis and Kazakhstan’s First Deputy Prime Minister Askar Mamin launched Sept. 29 via teleconference in Riga a new container service in the China-to-Europe transcontinental route, the Kazakh Prime Minister’s press service reported. The container train’s route starts in Urumqi, China, runs through Kazakhstan, Russia and Latvia and then navigates through…
Kazakhstan, Belarus seek trade turnover of $1 billion by 2020
ASTANA – Kazakh First Deputy Prime Minister Askar Mamin announced at the Sept. 22 13th meeting of the Kazakh-Belarusian Intergovernmental Commission (IGC) for Trade and Economic Cooperation in Karagandy that trade with Belarus should be increased to $1 billion by 2020. On the sidelines of the commission meeting, Mamin and his Belarusian counterpart Vasily Matyushevsky…
UN disarmament programme fellows visit Kazakhstan, meet officials
ASTANA – Participants in the 2017 United Nations Programme of Fellowship on Disarmament met with Deputy Foreign Minister Roman Vassilenko Sept. 20 during their three-day trip to Kazakhstan. Diplomats from 27 UN member states were received at the Foreign Ministry, where Vassilenko briefed them on the nation’s efforts to build a nuclear-weapons-free world. He stressed…
Nazarbayev’s visits to Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan strengthen Central Asian ties
ASTANA – President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s Sept. 16 state visit to Uzbekistan resulted in ten bilateral documents inked by Kazakh and Uzbek governmental bodies and state-owned companies. The following day, he travelled to Ashgabat to meet with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov and attend the opening ceremony of the fifth Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG).…
Kazakh President discusses EXPO 2017, OIC technology summit and other topics during press conference
ASTANA – President Nursultan Nazarbayev praised the outcomes of EXPO 2017 and stressed the significance of the recent first Organisation for Islamic Cooperation Science and Technology Summit in Astana, among other topics discussed, during a Sept. 14 press conference. The President said it was a significant accomplishment to win the bid among 162 countries to…
Erdogan, Nazarbayev advance economic agreement worth $1 billion during Astana meeting
ASTANA – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev oversaw the signing Sept. 9 in Astana of protocols to the New Synergy Joint Economic Programme for 2017 through 2020, which includes 26 projects totalling $1 billion. Turkish business leaders accompanying Erdogan also signed nine investment agreements with the Kazakh Invest national company…
Kazakh, Polish leaders witness signing of Green Bridge partnership, attend business forum in Astana
ASTANA – Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Polish President Andrzej Duda held talks here during the Polish leader’s state visit to Kazakhstan Sept. 6 and witnessed the signing of the charter to the Green Bridge Partnership Programme and a ministerial agreement on economic cooperation. The two leaders also addressed a Kazakh-Polish business forum which saw…
President Nazarbayev opens Kazakh Parliament’s third session, sets major goals
ASTANA – The third session of the Kazakh Parliament’s sixth convocation opened Sept. 4 with President Nursultan Nazarbayev setting the legislature’s tasks for the coming 10 months. Speaking before the members of both chambers, Nazarbayev summed up the results of Parliament’s work during the previous session and stressed the importance of continuing the current legislative…
EXPO 2017 “is what conversation on transition to clean energy needs to be about,” says head of UN Environment Programme
ASTANA – Erik Solheim, head of the UN Environment Programme and Deputy Secretary-General of the UN, visited Astana late last month to meet with senior Kazakh officials and discuss joint activities, as well as become acquainted with the future-energy themed EXPO 2017. The Astana Times had the opportunity to interview the Norwegian-born diplomat. First of…
NGOs and government discuss civil issues at Kazakh MFA
ASTANA – The Consultative Advisory Body (CAB) of the Dialogue Platform on Human Dimension discussed during its Aug. 28 meeting Kazakhstan’s fulfillment of UN conventions and other civil issues. Government and nongovernmental organisation representatives as well as diplomats from various observer missions met at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss implementation of the provisions…
Kazakhstan condemns DPRK missile launch, calls for dialogue during UNSC meeting
ASTANA – Kazakhstan condemned during the Aug. 29 meeting of the UN Security Council the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) launch of a ballistic missile over Japan on Aug. 28. Kazakhstan also supported the statement by the president of the council condemning the launch. “We are in solidarity with Japan, as the ballistic missiles…
EAEU internal, foreign trade grows by more than 25 percent in 2017
ASTANA – Trade within the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and with non-member states grew by more than 27 percent in the first half of 2017. Trade with non-member states compared to the same period in 2016 grew by 27.8 percent ($63.5 billion) and trade within the union increased 27 percent ($5.3 billion). The volume of…
Kazakh MFA, Chief Editors’ Club award foreign media contest winners
ASTANA – The Kazakh Foreign Ministry and Chief Editors’ Club awarded Aug. 21 the winners of the Fourth International Kazakhstan through the Eyes of Foreign Media Contest. Authors from Azerbaijan, Israel, Italy, Canada, and the Republic of Korea were presented with diplomas, souvenirs and a trip to Kazakhstan. In his welcoming speech, Foreign Minister Kairat…
EXPO 2017 receives 2.5 million visitors, boosts national economy, executive says
ASTANA – EXPO 2017 recently reached 2.5 million visitors one month ahead of its closing, according to a report presented by Astana EXPO 2017 national company Chairman Akhmetzhan Yessimov to Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev. “The number of exhibition visitors was expected to reach two million in three months. To date, this number hit 2.5 million.…
EAEU government heads discuss integration in Astana
ASTANA – Kazakhstan initiated discussions during the Aug. 14 Eurasian Intergovernmental Council meeting about creating a common financial and labour market, adopting shipping contracts and removing technical barriers to trade with non-member countries. The meeting was conducted during EXPO 2017 and included the heads of government of Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia. It was…
Swiss President meets with Kazakh counterpart, attends national day at EXPO 2017
ASTANA – Swiss President Doris Leuthard paid her inaugural visit to Kazakhstan Aug. 11 to unveil Swiss National Day at EXPO 2017 and meet with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Kazakh-Swiss cooperation documents were also signed as part of the trip. The discussion between the two leaders acknowledged the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the…
Kazakh economy grows 4.2 percent, other indicators positive, according to 7 months economic report
ASTANA – The Kazakh economy grew 4.2 percent, the unemployment rate was 4.9 percent and investment in fixed assets increased 3.7 percent over the first seven months of this year, according to a report presented August 7 by Kazakh Prime Minister Bakytzhan Sagintayev to President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Inflation increased 0.1 percent compared to June last…
Kazakh FM attends inauguration of Iranian President
ASTANA – On behalf of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov took part in the Aug. 5 official inauguration ceremony of newly elected Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. “Today is a big day not only for Iran, but also for all the friends of your country. I am honoured to congratulate you on behalf…
Romanian FM visits Kazakhstan to mark 25 years of diplomatic relations, attends National Day at EXPO
ASTANA – Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Teodor Viorel Meleșcanu visited Kazakhstan July 27-28 to mark the 25th anniversary of Kazakh-Romanian relations and participate in Romanian National Day at EXPO 2017. Meleșcanu began the trip by meeting with Kazakh Prime Minister Bakytzhan Sagintayev to discuss further developing trade and economic cooperation in energy, machine building,…
Rail cargo transportation grows 13 percent in first six months of 2017
ASTANA – Kazakh rail cargo transportation grew 13 percent in the first half of 2017 compared to the same period of 2016, reaching 128 million tonnes, announced the Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) national railway company during a July 27 meeting to summarise the results of the first half of 2017 and outline priorities for the…
Islamic world representatives confirm participation in Astana science and technology summit
ASTANA – High-level representatives of the Islamic world confirmed their participation in the first Summit on Science and Technology in Astana during the 44th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) July 9-11 in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire). Kazakhstan’s official delegation headed by the President’s Special Envoy and Deputy…
