The official visit of the Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan to the USA has commenced
WASHINGTON, DC, December 12, 2019 — Kazakhstan and the United States of America are intending to develop an enhanced strategic partnership characterized by multifaceted interaction across the entire spectrum of bilateral relations. This was the keynote of the negotiations of Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Mukhtar Tileuberdi who was on a two-day official visit to Washington at the invitation of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The visit of Mr Tileuberdi to Washington began with a bilateral meeting with his colleague Mr Pompeo at the U.S. Department of State.
“We attach great importance to the further expansion of our cooperation with the United States. This cooperation is developing in the spirit of trust and mutual understanding. Thanks to this, Kazakhstan and the United States have reached the level of an expanded strategic partnership, which was consolidated following the official visit of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Leader of the Nation Nursultan Nazarbayev to Washington in January of 2018,” said the Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan’s commitment to further enhancing cooperation with the United States was emphasized during the visit of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to New York this September.
Secretary of State Pompeo said: “Kazakhstan has a leading position in Central Asia, and the United States relies on it as a trustworthy partner in the region. We consider your country to be a key partner in maintaining regional security.”
Symbolically, the visit took place on the eve of the 28th anniversary of Kazakhstan’s Independence. The United States became one of the first states to recognize the independence of Kazakhstan and to open a diplomatic mission in our country.
On the same day, Minister Tileuberdi held talks with the leadership of the National Security Council and US congressmen from the Friends of Kazakhstan Caucus.
Given the priority of economic diplomacy in the foreign policy agenda, the Foreign Minister visited the World Bank headquarters in Washington, DC. During a meeting with Vice President for Europe and Central Asia region Cyril Muller, the parties discussed relevant issues of bilateral cooperation between Kazakhstan and the financial institutions of the World Bank Group. Mr Muller said that the World Bank Board of Directors had approved the Kazakhstan Country Partnership Framework for 2020-2025. The parties also discussed a joint project in the field of agricultural development for 2020-2024.
Economic cooperation is traditionally one of the priority areas for cooperation between Kazakhstan and the United States. Bilateral trade in January-October of 2019 amounted to $1.8 billion. Exports from Kazakhstan to the United States amounted to $682 million, while imports to Kazakhstan from the United States reached $1.1 billion.
By the end of 2018, the US investment in Kazakhstan set a new record reaching $5.3 billion. Overall, total foreign direct investment from the United States to the economy of Kazakhstan has amounted to roughly $40 billion since 2005.
As part of developing cultural and humanitarian relations between the two countries, shortly before the 175th anniversary of Abai Kunanbayev, Minister Tileuberdi visited the Library of Congress, where the two-volume anthology of Kazakh literature and the poet’s “The Book of Words” were presented.
Established in 1800, the Library of Congress is the largest library in the world with approximately 38 million books and other printed materials in more than 450 languages.