A conference of the Atlantic Council dedicated to 20th anniversary of US-Kazakhstan relations has been held in Washington DC. It was attended by Kazakh Minister of Foreign Affairs Yerzhan Kazykhanov. The foreign minister of Kazakhstan will also have a meeting with the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and a number of figures of the American political and business circles. Yerzhan Kazykhanov, Kazakh Minister of Foreign Affairs, said that Kazakhstan has a multi-vector foreign policy which helps the country build effective partnerships with many countries. He went on by saying that President Nursultan Nazarbayev paid special attention to multi-directional integration relations since gaining independence in 1991 and this strategy is paying off today as the country plays a significant role in ensuring regional stability. Yerzhan Kazykhanov noted in his speech that Kazakhstan has applied for the membership in the UN Security Council in 2017-2018. The Atlantic Council representatives upheld the country’s decision and expressed confidence that this application would be accepted. Brent Scowcroft, Chairman of the Atlantic Council International Advisory Board, noted that Kazakhstan is making a great contribution to peace and prosperity in the region and showed an example of nuclear safety. He added that the country also demonstrated its achievements as the OSCE chairman in 2010. The meeting participants believe that it is quite logical that the current conference of the Atlantic Council is devoted to the diplomatic relations between Kazakhstan and the United States. Kazakhstan is the third largest energy supplier to the United States. The bilateral trade between the countries has increased by 3 percent over a year to 2 billion 200 million US dollars. Over the last 20 years, the US has invested a total of about 30 billion US dollars in the economy of Kazakhstan. Diplomats believe that this figure will be increasing from year to year to the benefit of both countries.

Views: 395