Kazakhstan and Austria Celebrate 30 Years of Diplomatic Relations
Nur-Sultan, February 18, 2022 – February 19 marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Austria. On this occasion, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer exchanged mutual congratulations.
In his letter, President Tokayev emphasized that in a short historical period, the two countries have established a meaningful political dialogue, close trade and economic ties and expanded cooperation within the framework of multilateral structures. At the same time, recently appointed Chancellor Nehammer noted that Kazakhstan is an important partner in Central Asia not only for Austria, but also for the European Union as a whole, and expressed interest in further enhancing bilateral cooperation in various sectors of the economy.
On the eve of this notable date, Kazakhstan’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Roman Vassilenko held a meeting with Ambassador of Austria to Kazakhstan Willi Kempel. They noted Austria had been one of the first countries in Europe to recognize the independence of Kazakhstan in 1992. Kazakhstan was the first state in Central Asia with which Austria established diplomatic relations. Since then, Kazakh - Austrian political contacts have been regularly maintained at the highest levels.
Over the 30 years of cooperation, a solid legal basis for bilateral relations has been created, while dozens of joint events have been held by state bodies and parliaments.
The two countries have matching positions on a wide range of aspects of international politics, specifically in the area of nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The parties closely cooperate within the framework of the UN, the OSCE and other international structures.
Trade and economic ties are consistently developing. Austria is one of the leading trade partners of Kazakhstan among the European Union countries. Today about 350 Austrian companies are represented on the Kazakhstan’s market. At the same time, Kazakhstan is the second trading partner of Austria among the CIS countries.
An important mechanism for the development of economic cooperation was creation in 2011 of the Kazakh-Austrian Intergovernmental Commission, the 10th meeting of which was held in September last year in Kazakhstan.
Business representatives of the two countries hold regular meetings and negotiations at the sites of the Kazakh-Austrian Business Council and the Forum of Regions, the first meeting of which took place in 2018.
Kazakhstan and Austria are connected not only by productive bilateral cooperation, but also by love for art. Over the past six years, within the framework of the project “Pearls of Kazakhstan – Melodies of the Great Steppe”, various cultural events have been held, allowing the Austrian public to get acquainted with the cultural and historical heritage of Kazakhstan.
Three decades have shown our countries are successfully interacting in number of areas and ready to enhance further cooperation.