The visit of the Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Murat Nurtleu to the United States

On March 26, 2024, Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Murat Nurtleu visited Washington.

Foreign Minister Nurtleu held a meeting with the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and they discussed the dynamic development of the enhanced strategic partnership between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the United States across a wide range of political, trade, economic and humanitarian spheres.

Emphasizing the balanced nature of the foreign policy of Kazakhstan, Foreign Minister Nurtleu paid special attention to the pragmatic implementation of transport and logistics, infrastructure, trade and investment potential of Kazakhstan, including through attracting advanced American technologies, strengthening business contacts and achieving mutually beneficial trade relations. Over the past year, trade between the countries increased by 33%, reaching 4 billion USD.

The Foreign Minister and Secretary of State highly valued the cooperation between the countries in the field of energy security, critical minerals, climate, peacekeeping, etc.

Secretary Blinken welcomed the consistency of fundamental reforms initiated by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and underlined Washington's readiness to continue its full assistance in implementing the reforms. “The United States recognize Kazakhstan's true leadership in many global issues”, – stated Blinken.

The parties also discussed opportunities to expand the “C5+1” (Central Asia + United States) dialogue and further implement agreements of the first-ever Summit held in New York in September, 2023.

On the same day, Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu held talks with the US Trade Representative Katherine Tai.

During the meeting, the Foreign Minister informed on the priorities of the new Government of Kazakhstan, the current dynamics of trade relations, and measures to ensure food security in the region.

Minister Nurtleu outlined that Kazakhstan is a reliable trade partner of the United States and invited the US Trade Representative to participate in the Astana International Forum.

Ambassador Tai highly appreciated the pace of development of the Kazakh economy, noting the commitment to pragmatic building of bilateral cooperation.

Special attention was paid to the high level of interaction between our country and the United States within the framework of the WTO, as well as Kazakhstan’s support for the efforts of the countries of the region to join the organization.

Additionally, on the initiative of the Kazakh side, it was agreed to hold the forthcoming meeting of the Council on the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) between the Central Asian countries and the United States in Astana.

During the visit, the Kazakh Foreign Minister met with the management of the American company “Wabtec”. They discussed the prospects for expanding cooperation in the field of transport and industry, the opening of the engineering center of the company in Kazakhstan, as well as providing internship for kazakhstani students studying under the scholarship program “Bolashak”.

Following the meetings, the parties agreed to continue the Kazakh-American dialogue in the entire spectrum of bilateral and multilateral cooperation.