Kazakh-American relations
Key Dates
December 25, 1991 - The United States recognized the sovereignty of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
December 26, 1991 - diplomatic relations were established.
September 15, 1992 - the U.S. Embassy was opened in Kazakhstan.
October 30, 1992 - the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan was opened in the United States of America.
December 14, 2009 - The U.S. General Consulate was opened in Almaty.
January 21, 2010 – The General Consulate of the Republic of Kazakhstan was opened in New York.
January 3, 2019 – the General Consulate of the Republic of Kazakhstan was opened in San Francisco.
Since April 5, 2021 – Yerzhan Ashikbaev is the Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the United States.
Since August 6, 2022 – Daniel Rosenblum is the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Kazakhstan (on November 14, 2022 he presented his credentials to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan).
Political Dialogue
An enhanced strategic partnership has been established between Kazakhstan and the United States, which is characterized by multifaceted interaction across the entire spectrum of bilateral relations.
The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took part in the 74th session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York on September 21-23, 2019, where he met with U.S. President Donald Trump and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Within the framework of the 76th high-level online session of the UN General Assembly (September 22, 2021), the Head of State spoke at the Global Summit on Combating COVID-19, initiated by the White House.
On September 17-20, 2022, President Tokayev took part in the 77th session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York and had a number of meetings with the captains of American financial, energy, agricultural, etc. companies as well as with representatives of the political and expert communities.
Contacts at a High Level
There is a number of bilateral events among the most significant and recent ones, which held within the framework of the U.S. trips of First Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Timur Suleimenov (April, October 2022), Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Special Representative of the President for International Cooperation Erzhan Kazykhan (November 2022, January 2023), Assistant to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Magzum Mirzagaliev (March 2022), Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Mukhtar Tileuberdi (May 2022), First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kairat Umarov (December 2022), First Vice Minister of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan Murat Zhurebekov (March 2022), Chairman of the National Commission for Women and Family and Demographic Policy under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Lyazzat Ramazanova and Commissioner for Human Rights of the Republic of Kazakhstan Elvira Azimova (March 2022), etc.
Parliamentary Diplomacy
The promotion of the inter-parliamentary dialogue is carried out on a regular basis.
On May 29 - June 3, 2022, the U.S. Congressional Staff Delegation (STAFFDEL) visited Kazakhstan as part of the U.S. State Department’s Cultural and Educational Program (MECEA).
On June 22-27, 2022, staffers of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan visited the United States.
On July 26 - August 5, 2022, deputies of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan visited the United States as part of the Open World program.
On August 29-September 2, 2022, within the framework of the U.S. State Department’s Cultural and Educational Program (MECEA) members of the U.S. Congress James Panetta and Thomas Suozzi visited Astana, Almaty and Turkestan cities. They had meetings with the Head of State, Chairmen of the Senate and Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi and the leadership of akimats of Almaty city and Turkestan region, visited places of historical and spiritual heritage, as well as participated in cultural events.
On November 4-10, 2022, member of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan Akmaral Alnazarova observed the midterm elections to the U.S. Congress in the United States through the OSCE PA.
Bilateral Cooperation Mechanisms
On the Kazakh-American track, such bilateral mechanisms as the High-Level Dialogue on Human Rights and Democratic Reforms (HLD), the Enhanced Strategic Partnership Dialogue (ESPD), the Strategic Energy Dialogue (SED), the Business Council at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and a number of sectoral Working Groups, helping to strengthen the bilateral partnership between Kazakhstan and the United States work effectively.
С5+1
The C5+1 initiative, launched in September 2015, has received further development and institutionalization. Today, the C5+1 mechanism has established itself as an effective diplomatic platform for regional cooperation in ensuring the multifaceted development of Central Asia.
A total of fifteen meetings were held at the level of foreign ministers: November 1, 2015 (Samarkand), August 3, 2016 (Washington), December 7, 2016 (Hamburg), September 22, 2017 and January 19, 2018 (New York), August 21, 2019 (Astana), September 22, 2019 (New York), February 3, 2020 (Tashkent), June 30, 2020, April 23, 2021 (VC mode), July 15, 2021.(Tashkent) and September 22, 2021 (New York, in hybrid format), February 28 and September 22, 2022 (videoconferencing mode, New York), February 28, 2023 (Astana).
Security and Combating Terrorism
In 2019-2021 the multi-stage humanitarian operation «Zhusan» was successfully implemented jointly with American partners to repatriate 607 Kazakhstanis from Syria.
Investment, Trade and Economic Cooperation
Trade and economic cooperation is traditionally one of the priority areas for the development of relations between Kazakhstan and the United States.
Bilateral trade between Kazakhstan and the United States for 2022 amounted to 3.05 billion dollars, which is 37.2% higher than in the previous year (2.2 billion dollars). At the same time, exports from Kazakhstan to the United States amounted to 1.15 billion dollars, imports to Kazakhstan from the United States – 1.89 billion dollars. During the years of independence (since 1993), the inflow of direct investment from the United States to Kazakhstan exceeded 62 billion dollars. In the first three quarters of 2022, the direct investment inflows from the United States to Kazakhstan increased by 58.8% to more than 5 billion dollars in comparison with the same period of the previous year (3.1 billion dollars).
The U.S. remain the second largest investor in the Kazakh economy. The most attractive sectors for investment cooperation are the financial sector, energy, retail, engineering, mining, transport, communications, pharmaceuticals, and real estate.
More than 600 enterprises with the participation of the American capital operate in Kazakhstan. At the same time, U.S. companies continue to show interest in the Kazakh market.
The active participation of large American companies (Chevron, ExxonMobil, General Electric, Philip Morris, JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, Baker McKenzie, etc.) in the work of the Council of Foreign Investors under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan gives an additional impetus for the development of bilateral economic relations.
Energy
Over the past decades, the United States has made a significant contribution to the formation and development of the energy industry in Kazakhstan, and continues to be the main investor in this area. The U.S. investments in three largest fields «Tengiz», «Kashagan» and «Karachaganak» amounted to more than
176 billion dollars.
The Strategic Energy Dialogue (SED) is the key mechanism in the field of energy cooperation. The proper work is being carried out in such areas as nuclear security and nuclear power; hydrocarbon resources; renewable energy sources and energy efficiency; electric power industry.
Transport and Logistic
Kazakhstan and the United States intend to launch bilateral direct flights. On December 30, 2019, the Open Sky Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the U.S. Government was signed, and it entered into force on March 15, 2022.
In addition, since 2016, Kazakh citizens traveling to the United States for business, private and tourist purposes can receive American visas valid for 10 years.
Education
Scientific, technical and educational cooperation between Kazakhstan and the United States is developing in a positive way. Work is underway to expand educational programs, attract investment in educational projects, as well as exchange experience between Kazakh and leading American universities. A 10-year Agreement was signed between M. Kozybaev North-Kazakhstan University and the University of Arizona (September 2022), providing for the training of 5 thousand specialists. The United States is increasing cooperation with Kazakhstan in the field of education under the FLEX, Fulbright and SABIT programs, etc.
Bolashak scholarship holders study in the U.S. on a regular basis. In general, within the framework of the Bolashak international scholarship, 12,018 people have been educated in the best universities of the world. Of these, 2,885 completed their studies in the United States of America.
Women's Entrepreneurship
17 women's entrepreneurship support centers were established in Kazakhstan last year in cooperation with USAID.
In 2021, the U.S. State Department initiated the Women Entrepreneurs Academy (AWE Program) in Kazakhstan, which together with the Astana International Financial Center provides women with the necessary knowledge, skills, and business contacts to start a new business and scale an existing business. To date, 130 Kazakh women have become graduates of the AWE Program.
Legal Framework
Over 30 years of diplomatic relations, a solid legal framework has been created, contributing to the further strengthening of the enhanced strategic partnership in a wide range of relations. In total, more than 100 interstate, intergovernmental and interagency agreements have been signed.