Major outcomes of the foreign policy activities of the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2015 and priorities for 2016

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1 30 December :12 Last Updated on Wednesday, 30 December :08 Major outcomes of the foreign policy activities of the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2015 and priorities for 2016 Ladies and Gentlemen! Today we summarize the results of the foreign policy of Kazakhstan in I wish to thank the Central Communications Service for providing this comfortable platform for our work. In general, looking at the outcomes of 2015, I believe Kazakhstan s international authority has significantly increased. With regard to the major areas of the foreign policy, determined by thepresident, we have substantially improved our positions. This is a difficult year for international relations. It was a serious challenge for our global and multivector policy. However, I am confident, because the foreign multivector policy confirmed its efficiency and accuracy. The year 2015 will enter into the history of Kazakhstan as a year of successful democratic presidential elections and formation of 5 institutional reforms and 100 steps. Our diplomats contribute to the implementation of these projects. Based on the priorities declared by the President, the concrete tasks were assigned to attract foreign investors and promote the economic aspect of the diplomatic service. Kazakhstan s diplomats are committed to dealing with these and other concrete tasks. Thus, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs intends to continue its work towards this end in the new year as well. Since January 1, 2015 with the entry into force of the EAEU Agreement, the Eurasian Economic Union began its work. During the year, the number of the Union s participants has increased. Armenia and Kyrgyzstan became full members of the Union. st This is a new alliance of the 21 century, which emerged thanks to the initiative of the Head of the State in the beginning of 1990s. Its main principles are equality, mutual benefit and consideration of interests of all participants. Kazakhstan, first of all, takes into account its own national interests. These interests are pragmatic, economic. We build trustful and friendly relations with all states without exception. This is a major message for our partners during the negotiation process within the Union. The institutional formalization of constituent bodies had been finished. In Minsk the Union s Court started its activities, Kazakhstan has appointed two judges. Work is continuing on a draft Treaty for international agreements concluded with third countries, their integration associations and international organizations. In general, it is possible to state that in turbulent conditions on international financial markets and difficulties faced

2 by the world economy, the policy focused on the integration in Eurasia and increasing the level of connectivity is strategically correct. Significant work has been done towards the implementation of the initiative of the Head of the State regarding the conduction of the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions. th In June the 5 Congress was held. It had a theme Dialogue of religious leaders and politicians in the name of peace and development. Heads of states and various influential international organizations, such as the UN Secretary General Ban-Ki-moon, King of Jordan Abdullah II, President of Finland S.Niinisto, OSCE Secretary General L.Zanier, OIC Secretary General I. Madani, High Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilizations N. Al- Nasser took participation in the event. Totally more than 71 delegations from 42 states of the world, including representatives of Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Shintoism, Zoroastrism, Baha I faith and th other took part in the 5 Congress. Wide participation of political and religious leaders in the work of the Congress showed that the Kazakh initiative is strongly supported by the world community. Needless to say, the MFA also continues active work towards liberalization of the visa regime and extension of the legal framework. At the present moment, visa exemption agreements were signed with 19 countries. Recently, a visa-free regime agreement was concluded with Cuba. After the ratification of this agreement by the parliaments of two countries, citizens of Kazakhstan and Cuba would be able to mutually travel without visa for up to 30 days. As you know, in this June it was adopted the Resolution of the RK on the extension until December 31, 2017 of the pilot project regarding visa regime exemption up to 15 days for citizens of some politically and economically stable states (France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Netherlands, UAE, USA). In addition, the list was expanded by other 20 countries (Australia, Belgium, Finland, Hungary, Monaco, Norway, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland). We continue intensive talks regarding facilitation of the visa regime with the European Union. Addressing the issue of the Kazakhstan participation in the EU program Partnership Instruments was initiated to provide a grant for the implementation of the project towards the improvement of visa activities. For the purposes of implementing the task assigned by the Head of the State regarding the creation of the International Financial Center in Astana, preparations were launched to introduce a visa free regime for the OECD countries, as well as Malaysia, Monaco, UAE and Singapore from January 1, Moreover, we continue taking measures to modernize the process of issuing Kazakhstan s visas to foreign citizens. The revised draft of the Rules on visa issue in the Republic of Kazakhstan was developed and passes the process of harmonization. The document novelties include empowering heads of diplomatic missions of the Republic of Kazakhstan to issue single entry visas, changing and extending their validity period on the territory of Kazakhstan, simplifying procedures for certain visa categories and others. I would like to note that over the first 11 months of this year foreign missions of Kazakhstan have issued 242,645 visas to foreign nationals.

3 Another important event of the year, not only for our foreign policy, but also on a global scale, was the signing of documents on the creation of the IAEA Low Enriched Uranium Bank in Kazakhstan. Let me remind you that our President strongly supported the IAEA initiative on the establishment of the LEU Bank and offered to host it in our country. It is the first time in the history of nuclear energy that such a bank is created and rerpesents a new unique mechanism of assured supply of LEU to the IAEA Member States. The LEU Bank will serve for the benefit of the peaceful development of nuclear energy and make a significant contribution to strengthen global nuclear safety. The fact that Kazakhstan has become a platform for hosting the LEU Bank demonstrates the strengthening of the international image of our country, is a sign of a high level of confidence and recognition of Kazakhstan as a responsible and reliable partner with extensive experience in handling of nuclear material and consistent and strong supporter of strengthening of the non-proliferation regime and global nuclear security. The most important foreign policy event of the year for us was the participation of the President of Kazakhstan in the 70 th Anniversary Session of the UN General Assembly, during which Nursultan Nazarbayev voiced his flagship and landmark initiatives. In New York the President took part in the UN Sustainable Development Summit, during which he informed the participants about our country s progress regarding the Millennium Development Goals, including the reduction of poverty, child and maternal mortality, AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis morbidity rates as well as greenhouse gas emissions. Our President s statements, as well as his ideas and initiatives presented at these high-level events caused a great resonance among the delegations. The following initiatives of the President should be especially highlighted: Creation of a Special UN Fund for sustainable development through the annual transfer by each state of one percent of its defense budget. Creation of a Global anti-nuclear movement. Establishment of an International Centre for the development of green technologies and investment projects under the auspices of the UN on the basis of EXPO Creation of the UN anti-terrorist coalition. The last proposal is especially important in the face of the growing wave of terrorist attacks (Beirut, Sinai, Paris, Mali.) The President expressed his strong support for the international community in the fight against Daesh, decisions of the UN Security Council to address the situation in Syria. There is much to be done in this area, including the development of a 2045 Global Strategic Initiative Plan, or as we call it briefly the UN Plan 100. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already started to work actively to implement the President s initiatives. And one of the positive results was the adoption of the UN General Assembly resolution on the Universal Declaration on Achieving a Nuclear Weapons Free World on December, 7. The initiative on the adoption of the Declaration belongs to the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev,

4 who presented it at the first Nuclear Security Summit held in April 2010, inwashington. On September 28, 2015, in his statement at the General Debate of the 70 Anniversary Session of the UN General Assembly, President Nazarbayev urged the international community to make a nuclear-weapon-free world the main goal of humanity in the 21 st century and reiterated the need for the adoption of the Universal Declaration. This landmark event brought recognition and support by the international community of the President s vision to build a world free of nuclear weapons by 2045, reflected an independent foreign policy of President Nazarbayev and his positive image in the world. And this event has certainly made another practical contribution to the promotion of nuclear disarmament in the world. th The outgoing year has been marked by important, productive presidential visits abroad and high-level visits to our country. This year, Nursultan Nazarbayev has made 13 foreign visits, received 32 foreign heads of state, governments and international organizations. In total, 38 major international events and 70 bilateral visits have been held. In the outgoing year, I have made 13 visits abroad. I would like to highlight the productive visits of our President to Moscow, Beijing, London, Paris and many other capitals, resulted in the signing of 275 economic agreements totaling about 170 trillion tenge ($60 bln.) The implementation of agreements at the highest level, especially in economic cooperation remains a key priority of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In addition, in 2015 Kazakhstan has had an honor to chair the Commonwealth of Independent States and Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States, contributing to the strengthening of interaction within these organizations in specific areas of cooperation and their credibility in the international arena. Kazakhstan also received highly important leaders from Turkey, China, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Russia, Japan and other countries, as well as the US Secretary of State. These visits confirmed the international community's interest to further strengthen multifaceted cooperation and partnership with our country. Some foreign commentators interpret the above-mentioned visits as major powers renewed turf wars in Central Asia. In my opinion, truth and authenticity are distorted in pursuit of scathing headlines. Kazakhstan does not adopt the position of a silent detached observer in the implementation of someone else s strategy. Our country is successful in making its own independent way in the world. We purposefully build good relationships and establish strong economic contacts with large and small states in the East and West, North and South. We work closely with Russia and China. Europe is our largest trading partner, and the US is the second largest foreign investor after Europe. And it is no accident, but the result of our multi-vector foreign policy. Our economic progress, with 19-fold GDP growth, is also based on openness to trade, investment and new ideas. We are convinced that we need to shift from the Great Game philosophy to the Great Gain philosophy. And we believe that there will be enough space to do so for all the countries in the region and all countries willing to cooperate with us. We stand for the win-win principle when everyone wins including Eurasian countries with

5 Kazakhstan as its geographical center. This year, Kazakhstan has joined the World Trade Organization and become one of its newest members. All the major economies of the world have recognized Kazakhstan as a country with a favorable investment climate, conducting trade policy in accordance with international law. And most importantly, we have managed to combine the requirements of the World Trade Organization with those of the Eurasian Economic Union, based on our national interests. No one has any doubt that the WTO membership will give a powerful impetus to Kazakhstan s economic development through deeper integration with the world community. At the same time, it paves the way for more intense competition with leading world trade players. Finally, another important achievement of the year in our country s foreign policy was the signing of the new Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between Kazakhstan and the European Union two days ago during the visit of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini to Astana. This event confirmed the transition of the Kazakh-European relations to a qualitatively new level. The new Agreement significantly broadens horizons of interaction and opens new opportunities for cooperation between Kazakhstan and the EU in trade, economy and investment, including taking into account Kazakhstan s accession to the WTO and the development of the Eurasian Economic Union. An important area of cooperation under the new Agreement is a further simplification of mutual trips of citizens, and during the talks in Astana, the parties discussed further steps in this area. Kazakhstan has made considerable efforts to both harmonize the national legislation with the European standards in visa policy and facilitate travel of foreign citizens to our country. Priorities for 2016 As you know, on November 30 our President delivered his annual State of the Nation Address, which paid special attention to the need to increase in the coming decade the annual investment in the economy by more than 3 trillion 100 billion tenge ($10 billion) and export of processed goods at least twice compared to 2015 and boost it to 9 trillion 300 billion tenge ($30 billion.) Our Ministry and diplomatic missions of Kazakhstan in particular were given specific instructions to promote Kazakhstan s exports and conclude free trade agreements with a number of priority countries. Systematic work in this area has already started. Next year, we will take necessary measures to enhance coordinated efforts and cooperation between the foreign

6 missions, ministries, institutions, regional administrations, national and local companies in Kazakhstan to attract foreign investments. The Ministry and diplomatic missions will focus on the development of contacts with foreign business community. We will continue our concerted and substantial work to assist in the implementation of the goals and objectives set in the key documents: Kazakhstan 2050 Strategy, Nurly Zhol program, SPAIID and Plan of the Nation 100 Concrete Steps. Overall, attraction of foreign investments in priority sectors of Kazakhstan's economy and promotion of domestic products to foreign markets will remain one of the key priorities of Kazakhstan's foreign policy and an essential element of the promotion of trade and economic diplomacy. This year extensive work has been done to ensure broad and meaningful participation of foreign countries in the International Exhibition EXPO As a result, 61 countries and 13 international organizations have already confirmed their participation. Next year, we will continue to attract participation of foreign countries in EXPO 2017, inform foreign audience about the preparations to the exhibition. Our task is to ensure the participation of no less than 100 countries. The exhibition will make an important contribution to mankind s search for solutions to one of the key problems of our time meeting the growing energy needs in the most environmentally friendly way. As a matter of fact, Kazakhstan strongly supported the outcome of the Paris Climate Change Summit as it is sincerely concerned about global warming; we will continue to work on the greening of our economy. In 2016, we will continue to work actively to implement the President's initiative to promote Kazakhstan s bid for a non-permanent seat in the UN SC for Membership in the UN SC is a big responsibility to the world community. Our goal as a member is to make a meaningful contribution to the Council s efforts for the maintenance of international peace and security, strengthen the image and position of Kazakhstan as a factor of stability and security in Eurasia, draw the world's attention to the problems of Central Asia. Kazakhstan's campaign is focused on the issues of nuclear, water, food and energy security in the world, as problems in these fields exist on every continent. Voting for the election of our country as a non-permanent member of the UN SC is scheduled for next summer.

7 As already noted, the multi-vector approach proved its relevance and strategic loyalty in a very challenging period. Substantive work on the implementation of the Foreign Policy Concept of the Republic of Kazakhstan for will be continued in the next year. We intent to provide full support to the efforts towards addressing the situation in Ukraine on the basis of the Minsk Agreements. Based on a thorough monitoring and analysis of trends in the evolution of the international situation and key issues (Afghanistan, Syria, cancellation of Iranian sanctions, trends on the world energy market and etc.) we will develop proposals to address them. The course for the development of mutually beneficial cooperation with major partners and closest neighbors-central Asian brother countries will be kept. We are committed to continue providing comprehensive assistance for further integration of the country into the global economy, promoting infrastructure coherence and development of transcontinental bonds in Eurasia. Together with interested state bodies and national companies the work will go on to create transport-logistics bridges connecting Western and Eastern countries through Kazakhstan ( Khorgos, railway Kazakhstan- Turkmenistan-Iran and etc.) Preparatory work for the summit regarding the legal status of the Caspian Sea and completion of the process of demarcation of the state border will be conducted. Social importance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Feedback Protection of rights of citizens and legal entities of the Republic of Kazakhstan, their personal, family and business interests abroad is an essential task of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For expanding the geography of consular presence, a consulate in city of Barcelona (Spain) was opened in this year. At the current moment 90 Kazakh consular institutions operate in 67 world countries. At the same time, 72 honorary consuls of the Republic of Kazakhstan carry out their activities abroad. 22 honorary consuls of Kazakhstan were appointed in this year (Argentine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chile, Columbia, France, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Denmark, Italy (2), Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Thailand, Sweden (2)). 4 patents of honorary consuls were prolonged (Estonia, FRG, Latvia, Monaco). The special attention was paid to assisting our citizens, who got into trouble in foreign countries. Among many cases there is a need to note a return of more than 500 Kazakh tourists from Turkey this summer with regard to the bankruptcy of the travel agency Travel System.

8 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs together with the Ministry of Healthcare and Social Development organized special transportation to the home country of some our citizens for medical reasons from Germany (A.Akhmetzhanova), Russia (D.Kalysskhan), Ukraine (S.Korlassbayev). 5 women citizens of our country were released from the nets of criminal syndicates involved in human trafficking in Bahrain and returned to Kazakhstan, as well as 2 in Lybia. In this May 3 bodies of Imankulov s family members, who died in a plane crash in France were returned to the home country. It should be noted that we provided financial support for 23 citizens of Kazakhstan, in particular with regard to the evacuation caused by the aggravation of the situation in Syria (1), Yemen (1), and earthquakes in Nepal (7), return to the homeland from Indonesia (2), Turkey (6), France (1), as well as delivery of bodies of 5 our citizens from Afghanistan, China, Russia and South Korea. We consistently carry out activities to improve transparency of the Ministry for Kazakh citizens, Kazakhstan s visibility in the world. The MFA uses all popular social networks as channels of communication. Work is under way to upgrade the official website. The online conference in Twitter with my participation has been conducting annually. We also provide permanent feedback for the population through prompt responses to appeals of citizens by means of the blog-platform, MFA social networks. In conclusion I would like to congratulate you on the coming New Year and wish you implementation of all designed plans! Share