Congratulatory Message by Ambassador Nurgali Arystanov
Құрметті Кореядағы отандастар!
Сіздерді Республика Күнімен шын жүректен құттықтаймын!
Барлықтарыңызға Қазақстан мен Корея Республикасы арасындағы достық қатынастарын дамытуға қосып жатқан үлестеріңіз үшін шын жүректен алғыс білдіремін!
Anyong hashimnika, Pangap Symnida!
Your Excellency, Dear Deputy Minister Kim Hyoeun,
It is a great pleasure to host you today as the Guest of Honor from the Government of Korea! Very happy to see you! Thank you for your time!
Fellow colleagues, Your Excellences,
Dear friends!
First of all, let me extend my sincere appreciation for spending your precious time with us today and joining our celebration! It is a great pleasure to see all of you here tonight!
We are honored to have with us Mr. Bulat Akchulakov, Advisor to the President for Energy Affairs, who came specially to grace our event with his presence.
Today, we are celebrating the Republic Day, the day when Kazakhstan declared its sovereignty.
Over the short span of 30+ years, Kazakhstan has emerged as a mature state and responsible member of the international community, with an active foreign policy, dynamic economy, and vibrant civil society.
This kind of progress has been possible, thanks to the crucial support of close friends and strategic partners. Among friendly countries, the Republic of Korea plays a major role, with which we enjoy the enhanced strategic partnership. Korea for us is the 4th largest trade partner and 6th largest foreign investor.
As a result of a regular dialogue between our Presidents and Foreign Ministers, bilateral cooperation receives a fresh impetus. At a recent fruitful meeting in New York, President H. E. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and President H. E. Yoon Suk Yeol agreed to further promote friendship, and enhance political cooperation and commercial partnership.
Foreign Minister H.E. Park Jin's May trip to Kazakhstan and his meeting with Foreign Minister H.E. Murat Nurtleu covered an entire range of issues and provided a significant boost to bilateral ties.
The launch of the legislative track of C5+K and the September visit by Speaker the Honorable Yerlan Koshanov elevated the parliamentary ties to a new level.
Also this year, we have hosted several visits of high official representatives of Kazakhstan.
In April, we organized the successful visit of Roman Sklyar, the First Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, who came here with a strong delegation to strengthen investment ties.
During the visit of Gani Beisembayev, the Minister of Education, he had fruitful discussions with Lee Ju-Ho, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education of Korea, on educational cooperation. Mayor of Almaty Yerbolat Dossayev met with the Mayor of Seoul Oh Se-hoon in Seoul in September.
Just recently, Yerzhan Sadenov, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan, participated in the International Police Summit 2023 in Seoul and met with Minister of Interior and Safety Lee Sang Min. And Ruslan Kunurov, the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Defense Forces of Kazakhstan, attended the ADEX 2023.
Let me highlight that our cooperation rests on the rock-solid foundation of genuine friendship between the Kazakh and Korean peoples. Therefore, we will not spare any effort to advance people-to-people ties. At this point, we have all the conditions conducive to this purpose. Air Astana and Asiana Airlines together operate 11 flights a week between Almaty and Seoul, two major cities only 6 hours apart from each other.
Our citizens can visit our countries without a visa for up to one month, which facilitates direct contact among officials, chief executives, cultural figures, experts, and scholars. In promoting better mutual understanding, ethnic Koreans of Kazakhstan (Koryo-in) play a vital role, as they act as a bridge connecting our nations.
With the mutual desire to promote bilateral cooperation, I am sure that the horizons of our engagement will expand drastically in the years to come.
Especially, I want to emphasize our cooperation in the fields of climate change, green economy, and energy efficiency both bilaterally and within multilateral platforms such as GGGI, GCF, and others. As we prepare for COP 28 (2023 UN Climate Change Conference, November 30 to December 12 in Dubai), we look forward to ever closer ties on saving Mother Earth, caring about Nature, and changing the conscience on smart usage of resources for sustainable development.
Your Excellency Deputy Minister Kim Hyoeun,
I take this opportunity to extend our deep gratitude to the Government of Korea, especially the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for the warm welcome and constructive support extended to our diplomats, Embassy staff, and Kazakh citizens in Korea.
On this auspicious occasion, let me express our confidence that Kazakhstan-Korea cooperation and friendship will flourish in the years ahead.
Long live Kazakh-Korean friendship!
Kamsahamnida.