Kazakhstan and the EU agreed to accelerate a new agreement on advanced partnership
Astana. June 4. Kazakhstan Today - Today the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev held a meeting with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who is in Kazakhstan on an official visit, Kazakhstan Today reports.
As the Presidential press service informed, during the meeting they discussed a wide range of issues, including the status and prospects of political, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation. In addition, emphasis was put on the international agenda, in particular, the situation in Central Asia.
The President of Kazakhstan said that Barroso had fruitful work since his arrival in Astana, and stressed that the European Union is the main partner of Kazakhstan. In his turn, Barroso said that the visit of Nursultan Nazarbayev to Brussels in 2010 contributed greatly to the expansion of relations between Kazakhstan and the European Union.
According to the press service, during a joint press conference Nazarbayev emphasized that Kazakhstan attaches strategic importance to developing relations with the European Union.
"Over the past years, the European Union remains the main foreign economic and political partner of our country. Over the years, investment from the EU amounted to $80 billion level of bilateral trade reached $53 billion In addition, Kazakhstan has signed strategic partnership agreements with such countries European Union, France, Spain. We also have an agreement with Germany for the supply of raw materials in exchange for technology. In recent years, the EU and European companies are actively involved in the industrial development of our country," said the head of state.
The President also noted that during the negotiations it was agreed to accelerate a new agreement on advanced partnership and cooperation between Kazakhstan and the European Union.
"We talked about simplifying the visa regime for certain categories of our citizens. We touched the issue of possibility of providing free flights our airlines to European countries. We also talked about the assistance of the European Union in the process of Kazakhstan's accession to the World Trade Organization. On all these issues, we have a consensus, we have the support, for which I am grateful to Jose Manuel Barroso," said Nursultan Nazarbayev.
The head of state stressed that the talks were held in a fiduciary manner.
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