Kazakh-Swiss Political Consultations Held in Bern
Bern, May 17, 2021 – Today the 5th Kazakh-Swiss political consultations with the participation of the delegation of Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs headed by Director of the Department of Europe Timur Sultangozhin took place in Bern.
The Swiss side was led by Deputy Secretary of State, Head of the Europe, Central Asia, Council of Europe and OSCE Division in the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of the Swiss Confederation, Ambassador Anna Ifkovits, as well as the heads of a number of structural divisions of the Swiss Foreign office.
The Swiss side noted that Kazakhstan is Switzerland’s most important partner in Central Asia. Ambassador Ifkovits welcomed the implementation of the package of political and economic reforms initiated by Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev within the framework of the concept of a “listening state”.
The parties noted the intensification of contacts between Nur-Sultan and Bern due to the growing mutual interest in strengthening trade, economic and investment cooperation. The Swiss side followed with interests the presentation on the measures taken by the Government of Kazakhstan to improve the investment climate. In this context, the activity of about forty Swiss companies in Kazakhstan was noted in a positive way.
An agreement was reached to promote in every possible way the development of intergovernmental, inter-parliamentary and business ties. Due to the decline in mutual trade because of the coronavirus pandemic, the parties confirmed their commitment to strengthening trade cooperation through the revitalization of the Kazakh-Swiss Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation. In addition, the sides discussed the possibility of launching direct flights in order to strengthen ties between the business community and citizens of the two countries. The diplomats considered joint actions to expand the bilateral legal framework on economic issues and to facilitate business travels.
During the exchange of views on international issues, the delegations discussed interaction within the UN, OSCE and other multilateral institutions. Special attention was paid to the regional agenda, including the issues of water resources management in Central Asia, stabilization of Afghanistan, cooperation in combating drug trafficking within the framework of the Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Center (CARICC).
Ways of joint work on official development assistance were substantively discussed, in particular, between the Kazakhstan Agency for International Development “KazAID” and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation “Deza” (SDC).
Following the talks, the heads of delegations noted decent level of cooperation between the governmental and business circles of the two countries, and agreed to continue holding political consultations on a regular basis.