General information
December 10, 1992 – the date of establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Latvia.
In July 1995, the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan was opened in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia (concurrently appointment).
In December 2014, the Embassy of Latvia in the Republic of Kazakhstan was opened.
In July 2019, the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Latvia was opened.
Since January 2021, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Latvia to the Republic of Kazakhstan is I. Mangule.
Since October 2023, D. Karipov has been the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Republic of Latvia.
Visits at the highest and highest levels
The First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan N.Nazarbayev visited Latvia 1 time (with a state visit -2006).
The Presidents of Latvia visited Kazakhstan six times (four times with state and official visits: G.Ulmanis – 1994, V.Vike-Freiberga – 2004, V.Zatlers – 2008, A. Bērziņš – 2013; twice with workers: V.Zatlers – December 1-2, 2010 - OSCE Summit, R. Vējonis – July 9-10, 2017 - EXPO-2017).
Inter-parliamentary cooperation
Visits to Latvia:
- Deputy of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan T.Musabayeva (May 2019).
Visits to the Republic of Kazakhstan:
- Parliamentary delegation (June 7-9, 2003, July 2008, participation in the OSCE PA);
- Deputy Speaker of the Saeima I. Lībiņa-Egnere (May 2016);
- Head of the Committee on International Affairs of the Saeima I. Kalniņš (November 23-25, 2016);
- Deputy Chairman of the Interparliamentary group on cooperation of the Latvian Saeima with the Parliament of Kazakhstan L.Shvetsova (September 23-24, 2019, participation in the 4th meeting of speakers of parliaments of the Eurasian countries).
An important mechanism of interaction between the parliaments of the two countries is the interparliamentary cooperation group. Group leaders: from the Kazakh side – member of the Committee on Socio-Cultural Development of the Mazhilis of Parliament Zhanarbek Ashimzhanov; from the Latvian side – Linda Liepiņa, member of the Commission on Human Rights and Public Relations and the Commission on Parliamentary Inquiries.
Trade and economic cooperation
Currently, the indicators of bilateral trade show positive growth dynamics. According to Kazakh statistics, the volume of mutual trade between Kazakhstan and Latvia last year amounted to 356.3 million US dollars (exports-279.2 million dollars, imports-77.1 million dollars), which is 62% higher than in the 2022 (218.6 million US dollars).
Important mechanisms of economic cooperation are the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation (the 8th meeting was held on November 3, 2021 in an online format, the 9th is scheduled for this year in Riga) and the Working Group on Transport (the 5th meeting was held on June 12-13, 2023 in Riga).
The co–chairs of the Intergovernmental Commission: Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Roman Vassilenko from the Kazakh side, and an appointment is expected from the Latvian side.
Cultural and humanitarian cooperation
In 2019, the Kazakhstan Information Center “Abai” was opened in the Academic Library of the University of Latvia. The Center presents a variety of artistic, historical and popular science literature by Kazakh authors.
Since 2019, in order to popularize the Kazakh language, national culture, traditions and customs, the Kazakhstan Cultural Center “Saule” has been operating in Jelgava in Latvia.
On October 13, 2021, the art exhibition “Kazakhstan-Latvia” is operating on an ongoing basis in the “BiArt” gallery of the Baltic International Academy, which presents more than 50 works by famous Kazakh artists.
In 2023, events were held dedicated to the 140th anniversary of Khalel Dosmukhamedov, the 80th anniversary of Murat Auezov and the 800th anniversary of Sultan Beybarys and the leaders of Alash Orda.
On May 13, 2023, Kazakh students and representatives of the diaspora unfurled the largest flag of Kazakhstan in Riga and Jurmala in support of the Kazakh ice hockey team, which took part in the World Hockey Championship in Riga.
On November 29, 2023, a literary evening dedicated to the figures of Alash Orda took place, with the participation of Kazakh students studying at higher educational institutions in Latvia.
On December 15-16, 2023, the annual youth competition of the International Vocal and Music Festival “Riga Symphony-2023” was held in the capital of Latvia. Our country was represented at the festival by six young talents aged from 8 to 11 years. The worthy performance of the Kazakhstanis was shown by the results of the competition, according to which our children received 5 gold and 1 silver medals.
There is a Cooperation Agreement between the ministries of education of the two countries. Great importance is given to the development of educational and scientific relations within the framework of the Kazakh-Latvian intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation.