KAZAKH PRESIDENT MAKES HISTORIC VISIT TO EUROPEAN UNION
On October 24, Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev began his European tour, which included talks with the EU's and Belgium's top officials and then wrapping up his trip by visiting France. It was his first trip to Europe after the Lisbon Treaty entered into force on December 1, 2009, introducing the post of President of the European Council and seriously modifying EU foreign policy development and implementation schemes.
Nazarbayev met Herman Van Rompuy, current President of the European Council, which is the chief executive body acting at the level of heads of state and government, as well as the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso. Speaking at the ensuing press conference, the Kazakh President stated that trade and investment cooperation between the EU and Kazakhstan is constantly on the increase, accounting for over US$ 30 billion in trade turnover in 2009. The bulk of last year's overall investments from the EU rose to US$ 50 billion, thus making the European Union the top foreign investor in Kazakhstan with its 40 percent share of all FDI. Kazakhstan's leader also pledged to increase the supply of hydrocarbons towards Europe at a time when Kazakhstan is rated the third largest exporter of crude oil to the EU outside OPEC.
During his bilateral meeting with Barroso, Nazarbayev thanked the EU for its willingness to negotiate an updated and well-advanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with Kazakhstan, which is expected to replace the existing framework regarded as incompatible with the present-day status of the EU-Kazakhstan political and economic relationship. This process is complemented by the signing and implementation of separate bilateral agreements on strategic partnership, which Kazakhstan has so far concluded with France, Italy, Spain and Germany. Barroso expressed his hope that with the assistance of international partners, Kazakhstan would be able to join the World Trade Organization in the near future.
In another meeting with Philippe Maystadt, the President of the European Investment Bank, the President of Kazakhstan oversaw the signing of a trilateral memorandum between the EIB, the Development Bank of Kazakhstan and the Samruk-Kazyna Sovereign Welfare Fund, a state-owned organization entrusted with the management of state assets and international cooperation in priority areas. In April 2010, the Kazakh Government and the EIB agreed on the modalities of a loan to implement a number of medium- and large-scale infrastructure projects on Kazakh soil in the fields of transport, energy, oil and gas.
Nazarbayev also met with NATO's Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen when visiting Brussels. He praised the positive trend in NATO-Kazakhstan cooperation and promised to send a few Kazakh soldiers to the International Security Assistance Force Headquarters in Afghanistan. Kazakhstan is currently participating in the “Steppe Eagle” military exercises orchestrated by NATO planners within the Partnership for Peace Program and implementing the second phase of its individual partnership action plan.
On the eve of his visit to the EU, President Nazarbayev was interviewed by the New Europe Information Service, answering questions about Kazakhstan's collaboration with major powers present in Central Asia, its OSCE chairmanship and the prospects for stabilizing south Central Asia. When asked whether his country would prefer any specific foreign oil operator, Nazarbayev stressed the utmost openness of the Kazakh oil sector and invited all interested companies to help modernize Kazakhstan's economy in line with the recently adopted Strategic Development Plan providing for accelerated industrialization up to 2020.
He also praised the commitment of the European Union to provide 118 million Euros in financial aid to Kyrgyzstan within the next three years and underscored Kazakhstan's pacifying role in relation to its southern neighbor, drawing on its positive experience with peaceful coexistence between various ethnic and religious groups. Nazarbayev paid special attention to the Afghan crisis which is now being actively dealt with under the umbrella of Kazakhstan's OSCE chairmanship. Astana has so far allocated US$ 50 million for training Afghan civilian specialists and disbursed more than US$ 4 million for the purpose of rebuilding schools, hospitals, roads and bridges across Afghanistan. Speaking about the threat of nuclear proliferation, the Kazakh President urged Iran to comply with IAEA safeguards in developing its peaceful nuclear technologies and hinted at the need to negotiate and adopt a new Global Treaty on horizontal and vertical nonproliferation.
Nazarbayev’s visit to Europe concluded in Paris, where he met his counterpart President Sarkozy, Prime Minister Francois Fillon and the CEOs of France's top industrial and innovation companies. Numerous contracts worth a total of US$ 2 billion were concluded, namely between AREVA and Kazatomprom in nuclear energy, Kazakh Railways and Alstom Transport in electric locomotives' construction, and the Kazakh Ministry of Defense and EADS for the supply of combat helicopters. Nazarbayev assessed both visits as truly historic.
