Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan participates in the 18th Meeting of the Kazakhstan-European Union Cooperation Council in Brussels
Brussels, 10 May 2021 - Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Mukhtar Tileuberdi took part in the 18th meeting of the “Republic of Kazakhstan - European Union” Cooperation Council. The European side was represented by Augusto Santos Silva, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Portugal, which is currently chairing the EU Council.
The Cooperation Council Meeting was the first since the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (EPCA) between Kazakhstan and the EU entered into force in March 2020. In this regard, the parties discussed topical issues of political, trade-economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation in the context of their practical implementation. The Agreement covers 29 promising areas of cooperation, such us international and regional security, trade, investment, infrastructure development, as well as innovation, culture, sports and tourism.
The delegations discussed the issues of trade diversification aimed to expand trade, economic and investment cooperation. Among some specific items on the agenda is export facilitation of Kazakh agricultural and fish products into the EU.
The talks confirmed mutual interest in deepening beneficial partnership in such fields, as green energy, transport, environmental protection, education and science. In particular, a further expansion of EU’s various academic and science exchange programs to Kazakh youth, such as “Erasmus+” and “Horizone Europe” was raised.
One of the important issue of the EPCA implementation is the facilitation of visa regime for the citizens of Kazakhstan travelling to the EU countries. Minister Tileuberdi emphasized that this subject is among priority items on our agenda and the importance of activating the negotiations on the mutual travel of citizens remains high.
The vaccination of the population against coronavirus was another vast topic of the discussion. The parties exchanged the latest information on the vaccination progress and its pace, shared their vision on the vaccination perspectives, as well as discussed the prospects of using the so-called “green certificates” for travelers and tourists to be implemented in the EU in June 2021. In this context, Mukhtar Tileuberdi spoke about the achievement of the Kazakhstan’s scientists who created their own vaccine "QazVac" and offered to build a cooperation between the relevant scientific institutions of Kazakhstan and the EU in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.
The Kazakh side briefed in detail EU delegation with the implementation of the political reforms initiated by the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev within the framework of the “Listening State” concept. The European partners positively assessed the implementation of the third package of reforms in Kazakhstan.
At the end of the Kazakhstan-EU Cooperation Council meeting, Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Foreign Affairs Mukhtar Tileuberdi held a press conference for the European and Kazakhstani media.
The European Union is a key trade and investment partner of the Republic of Kazakhstan; half of our country’s foreign trade and investment accounts to the cooperation with the EU. The trade turnover in January-February, 2021 reached 3.7 billion USD; in 2020 it was 23.7 billion USD (including exports - 17.7 billion USD, and imports - 6 billion USD); in 2019 the trade turnover was 31.4 billion USD. Kazakhstan was the first country in the Central Asia to sign in 2015 an Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with the EU.