Kazakhstan and OSCE Stand for Overcoming Conflicts and Restoring Stability in Region
Images | Kazakh MFA
Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Murat Nurtleu held a meeting with OSCE Secretary General Helga Schmid as part of her working visit to Kazakhstan and participation in the Astana International Forum, press service of the Kazakh MFA reports.
The parties exchanged views on a broad agenda of international and regional security cooperation and discussed the efforts of Kazakhstan and the OSCE in resolving conflicts and restoring stability in the region through an inclusive dialogue.
The OSCE Secretary General noted the relevance of the legacy of the Astana Declaration adopted at the 2010 OSCE Summit and emphasized "the indispensable role of Kazakhstan in the development of the Organization."
The Kazakh Minister stressed the importance of preserving the OSCE as a unique platform committed to the idea of a free, democratic, common and indivisible Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian Security Community.
Schmid touched upon close cooperation on three dimensions of security, including politico-military and economic-environmental cooperation, as well as the promotion of human rights and the strengthening of democratic institutions.
Minister Nurtleu commended the initiatives of the OSCE Secretary General aimed at strengthening the security and sustainable development of Central Asia, attaching great importance to deepening connectivity, water management and climate change.
In conclusion, the interlocutors agreed to continue active cooperation and joint efforts to overcome conflicts, both in the Organization and across the OSCE area.
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A search service will appear in the EAEU
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The Eurasian Economic Commission, together with the state authorities of the EAEU member states, is working on the creation of a search service for industrial property objects, press service of the Ministry of Trade and Integration reports.
According to the preliminary agreements of the "five" countries, the service will cover information on trademarks, service marks and appellations of origin protected in the EAEU member states.
The launch of a common search service for member states in the EAEU will provide a number of advantages.
First, it will help to speed up the process of finding the right information. Users will be able to easily find the desired trademarks or service marks. This is especially important for inventors and innovative companies, for whom quick access to information will help them develop new products and technologies.
Secondly, interactivity and user-friendliness. The ability to quickly and conveniently filter search results by various parameters, as well as tracking and saving your search queries will make the use of the service effective.
Creation of this service is an important step in support of innovations and protection of intellectual property rights of citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the platforms of the EAEU member states.
The service is scheduled to be operational by December 31, 2025.
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Kazakhstan and Hong Kong will increase trade cooperation
Images | Ministry of Trade and Integration
Possible options for intensifying trade and economic cooperation were discussed by Minister Arman Shakkaliyev and Hong Kong SAR Head John Lee at the meeting, press service of the Ministry of Trade and Integration reports.
The development of relations with China is one of the important priorities in Kazakhstan's foreign policy. We aim to further deepen our strategic partnership, and attach great importance to the development of cooperation with Hong Kong in the trade, economic and investment spheres. We have created all favorable conditions for investing in the economy of Kazakhstan, including in the field of new technologies, green energy, IT, the launch of new industries. Kazakhstan has a great potential for the production of organically pure products, and we are interested in supplying agricultural and food products to the Hong Kong market", - Arman Shakkaliyev said at the meeting.
Hong Kong is the largest e-commerce market. As the Minister of Trade noted, Kazakhstan is actively engaged in promoting the export of finished products through global marketplaces.
We have a successful experience of opening a National Pavilion on an international trading platform Alibaba.com , where more than 5,000 Kazakhstani goods are placed. Over the past 3 years, sales on the platform have amounted to more than $ 225 million. In addition, in May, the National Pavilion of Kazakhstan was opened on an electronic platform JD.com. Now we are actively negotiating in the field of e-commerce with major business whales, Genertec, Huawei, XingXing companies. We invite you to cooperate in this direction", - the Minister suggested.
In order to boost tourism, the Kazakh side proposed to resume direct flights and increase the visa-free regime between Kazakhstan and Hong Kong from 14 days to one month. This will make it possible to intensify trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation.
Following the meeting, Arman Shakkaliyev, on behalf of the Government of Kazakhstan, invited John Lee to visit Kazakhstan.
For reference:
Hong Kong is one of the largest financial and logistics hubs in the world. There are 8978 regional headquarters and representative offices of foreign companies, most of which are focused primarily on doing business with mainland China. There are 182 financial and banking institutions and 42 representative offices of foreign banks registered in Hong Kong, which confirms its status as the most important banking and financial hub in the Asia-Pacific region. The Hong Kong foreign exchange market is the second largest in Asia and the fourth in the world with an average daily turnover of $632.1 billion in foreign exchange transactions.
The Hong Kong stock market ranks 6th in Asia and 9th in the world at $4.1 trillion in terms of market capitalization. There are more than 2601 companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
By the end of 2022, foreign direct investment in the amount of $96.2 million was attracted from Hong Kong (an increase of 8.4% compared to 2021, $88.8 million).
As of August 1, 2023, 119 joint ventures with Hong Kong capital were registered, operating -100.
The trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Hong Kong in January-July 2023 amounted to 45.9 million US dollars, which is 59.7% higher than in the same period of the previous year (28.7 million US dollars). Exports from Kazakhstan to Hong Kong in January-July 2023 increased by 31% and amounted to 26.7 million US dollars. The trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Hong Kong in 2022 amounted to 51.8 million US dollars, which is 91% higher than in the same period of the previous year (27.1 million US dollars).
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Businessmen from Kazakhstan signed export contracts for 82.1 million dollars in Dushanbe
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Kazakh entrepreneurs took part in the trade and economic mission, which took place from September 10 to 12 in the city of Dushanbe. As a result of the business meetings, export contracts worth more than $ 82 million were signed, press service of the Ministry of Trade and Integration reports.
The organizers of the business mission were the Ministry of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan together with QazTrade and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Tajikistan.
As Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade of the Republic of Tajikistan Nuriddinzoda Akhliddin Nuriddin noted at the business forum in Dushanbe, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan have many areas of mutually beneficial cooperation in various sectors of the economy. Our country is among the TOP 3 largest trading partners of Tajikistan, firmly occupying the second place.
We consider Kazakhstan as the most important and reliable partner. Our relations are developing dynamically and cover a variety of areas. I sincerely hope that this event will contribute to a noticeable intensification of trade and economic cooperation between our countries,", - the Vice Minister of the Republic of Tajikistan said.
For 6 months of 2023, the mutual trade turnover between our states amounted to 557.4 million dollars. Export deliveries of Kazakhstani goods to Tajikistan increased by 6.9% and reached $ 387.2 million. Import volumes in the first half of the year decreased by 33.3% to 170.2 million dollars.
Kazakhstan sends wheat, sunflower oil, hot-rolled bars of non-alloy steel, petroleum products and more to the Tajik market. Vegetables, fresh and dried fruits, nuts are traditionally popular among Tajik imports.
Meanwhile, the potential of Kazakhstani commodity producers allows us to seriously increase the volume of exports of processed goods. Entrepreneurs are ready to supply Tajik consumers with products of 60 names.
In his welcoming speech, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Tajikistan Valikhan Turekhanov confirmed, "that the opportunities between our two states are simply huge. Such business meetings and trade missions allow businesses to discuss the terms of cooperation on the spot, to realize the existing potential".
During the business trip to Dushanbe, representatives of Kazakhstani companies visited industrial and agricultural enterprises, retail chains, held field meetings and negotiations in the B2B format.
Potential Tajik partners have shown great interest in our manufacturers of mechanical engineering and chemical products, as well as food products.
22 Kazakhstani enterprises of the machine-building, food, chemical, and manufacturing industries took part in the trade and economic mission in Dushanbe. This is the second meeting of the business circles of Kazakhstan and Tajikistan on the same platform. In May, Astana hosted a major Kazakh-Tajik business forum, where 40 documents on cooperation worth over $ 1.8 billion were signed.
Also in August, as part of the visit of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon to Astana, the days of Tajikistan in Kazakhstan and an exhibition-fair of agricultural, industrial products, handicrafts and national dishes of Tajikistan were held.
In turn, from September 13 to 15, Kazakhstan will take part in the International Exhibition of National Goods in Dushanbe, which will be held as part of the Fifth Consultative Meeting of the heads of Central Asian states.
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New opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation between Kazakhstan and Türkiye were discussed by the heads of foreign offices
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Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Murat Nurtleu held negotiations with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye Hakan Fidan, who arrived in Astana with an official visit, press service of the Kazakh MFA reports.
Minister Nurtleu, welcoming Turkish colleague in the historical homeland, congratulated him on his recent appointment as the Foreign Minister of Türkiye. The Kazakh Minister also extended his congratulations on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Türkiye and the 500th anniversary of Turkish diplomacy, as well as expressed his well wishes for the continued development and prosperity of the brotherly people of Türkiye.
During the meeting, the parties discussed ways to deepen strategic ties between the two countries in various spheres, including politics, trade, economy, investment, transport, logistics, culture, and humanitarianism.
In addition, foreign ministers exchanged views on current issues of international and regional agenda and agreed to continue coordinating joint efforts within international and interregional organizations such as the United Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), and others.
Türkiye is Kazakhstan’s closest partner, and our peoples share deep-rooted historical ties. In recent years, there have been positive dynamics in bilateral relations, which culminated in an expanded strategic partnership after the state visit of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, to Türkiye in May 2022. The successful 4th meeting of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council took place during President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's reciprocal state visit to Kazakhstan in October of last year," noted Murat Nurtleu.
Diplomats of the two countries paid special attention to investment-related issues, which have seen a steady increase in volume over the years. To put things into perspective, Türkiye has invested a total of 4.7 billion US dollars in Kazakhstan over the past 13 years, while the Kazakh side has invested over 1.2 billion US dollars in the Turkish economy.
Kazakh Foreign Minister has stated that Kazakhstan has provided favorable conditions for Turkish entrepreneurs to do business in the country. Currently, over 4,000 companies with Turkish capital are operating successfully in Kazakhstan. It's worth noting that Turkish contractors played a significant role in building most of the buildings in the capital, earning a profit of over 27 billion US dollars.
At the meeting, the parties emphasized the importance of utilizing the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, also known as the Middle Corridor, which passes through Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Türkiye on its way to European countries.
The aviation cooperation between the two countries has been greatly appreciated. Last year, the number of flights doubled, from 40 to more than 90 flights. Parties have noted that expanding the geography of flights will help further develop trade, economic, business, investment, and tourism cooperation between the two countries.
At the end of 2022, mutual trade between our countries reached a record figure of 6.3 billion US dollars thanks to the comprehensive measures taken by our governments and the efforts of our entrepreneurs. Türkiye has become our country's 4th largest trading partner following Russia, China and Italy," emphasized Minister Nurtleu.
The parties also highlighted the cultural and humanitarian cooperation within the framework of Turkic integration, which has become a significant area of multilateral diplomacy in Kazakhstan.
The Turkish side has been invited to the 10th anniversary Summit of the Organization of Turkic States, which will take place in Astana this November. The summit is expected to give new impetus to the development of the Turkic world.
The visit of Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to Kazakhstan was a significant move in strengthening the long-standing partnership between the two countries. It is expected to open up new opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation in the spirit of brotherhood and Turkic solidarity.
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Prospects of cooperation with UNESCO discussed at the Kazakh Foreign Ministry
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The First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kairat Umarov, held a meeting with the Director of the UNESCO Almaty Cluster Office Amir Piric, press service of the Kazakh MFA reports.
Umarov noted that the cooperation between Kazakhstan and UNESCO has reached a new level in recent years. In this context, he expressed satisfaction with the outcomes of the visit by the UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay to Astana in June, 2023 which commenced with a visit to the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi in Turkestan.
The Kazakh diplomat highlighted the importance of implementing joint projects with UNESCO focusing on leveraging the capabilities of artificial intelligence, as well as the development of the creative industry, as noted in the President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s State of the Nation Address "Economic course of a Just Kazakhstan". He also acknowledged UNESCO’s contribution to developing projects aimed at enhancing the skills of educators in a digital and inclusive environment, as well as conducting research on water security issues.
In turn, A. Piric informed about the ongoing transformation of the UNESCO Almaty Cluster Office into a Regional Multisectoral Office of the Organization, incorporating new countries into it. The parties discussed the activities of the Central Asian Regional Glaciological Center of Category 2 under the auspices if UNESCO, as well as issues related to Pretashkent transboundary aquifer (GGRETA).
In conclusion, the Head of the UNESCO Office expressed readiness to continue providing support in implementing new projects in the fields of education, science, and culture.
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