During the meeting, the President of Kazakhstan stressed that our country has been building friendly relations and an effective cooperation with all the states, which are represented by the diplomats.
- Last year, one third of diplomatic missions, accredited in Kazakhstan, had been renewed. I congratulate all the new ambassadors on the beginning of their mission in our country. I am confident that you, together with your colleagues, who had worked in Astana for a long time, will contribute to the development of our states. On our part, we are ready to provide all necessary conditions for your activity. Thank you for your useful work in Kazakhstan, - the head of state said.
Nursultan Nazarbayev informed about the approval of a new Foreign Policy Concept of Kazakhstan until 2020, given the long-term priorities of the Strategy-2050.
In this connection, the head of state finds it necessary to take into consideration a number of international aspects.
- We should not forget about ups and downs of global economic cycles. A period of growth is followed by a recession. It happened many times in history. That is why, the world and Kazakhstan should be ready to any turnabout in economy and consequently, in the international politics. Also, the significance of security issues rises at the periods of growth. Unsettled social problems in a number of countries have a high level threat of conflicts, - Nursultan Nazarbayev said.
The President of Kazakhstan stressed that our republic welcomes the beginning of the Geneva negotiations on Syria and hopes it would be a success. The head of state noted that Kazakhstan took part in settling another vital international problem, which is the Iranian nuclear programme. Thus, the two rounds of multilateral negotiations on settling this issue were held in Almaty.
Nursultan Nazarbayev also informed on an expansion of a spectrum of cooperation of Kazakhstan with other states.
- Last year our country was visited by the leaders of Russia, China, the European Commission, Great Britain, Indonesia, Spain, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Finland, and Latvia. One of the priority areas of the joint work with the Caspian countries has been determination of the Caspian Sea’s legal status. Kazakhstan organised the World Anti-Crisis Conference. It was supported by the UN and held under the aegis of the Astana Economic Forum. An important task is to develop friendship and cooperation with Russian Federation, the People’s Republic of China, the neighbor states of the Central Asia, the USA and the countries of the European Union. Kazakhstan expanded cooperation with the states of the Western hemisphere, South-Eastern Asia and Africa. The embassies of Kazakhstan in Vietnam and the South African Republic were established. This year, the embassies in Ethiopia, Mexico and Kuwait will be opened, - the President of Kazakhstan said.
The head of state reminded that our republic officially started a campaign on election into non-permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council for the period of 2017-2018. In this connection, Nursultan Nazarbayev called on the representatives of the countries to support the candidacy of Kazakhstan.
The President of Kazakhstan pointed out the importance of participation in the integration processes for our country taking into account that it is located in the very heart of Eurasia. He stressed that an active progress of the intraregional integration is a guarantee of successful development of all the Central Asia.
In turn, the dean of the diplomatic corps, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Kazakhstan M.Bocharnikov noted that the diplomats highly appreciate the tradition of meetings of the President of Kazakhstan with heads of the diplomatic missions and representatives of the international organisations.
The dean of the diplomatic corps stressed that the economic and financial stability strengthens Kazakhstan’s international authority.
M.Bocharnikov pointed out that currently Kazakhstan has diplomatic relations with 158 states of the world, 67 of which have diplomatic missions in our republic. He also expressed gratitude for attentiveness towards the diplomatic corps and provision of favourable conditions for their work and as the Ambassador of the Russian Federation thanked for good wishes concerning successful hosting the coming Olympic Games in Sochi.
