Upon his arrival in Singapore on a state visit, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was greeted by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam at the Istana Palace, El.kz cites Akorda.
The talks began with an official welcome ceremony. The national anthems of Kazakhstan and Singapore were played, and the leaders of the two countries received a welcome report from the chief of the guard of honour. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Tharman Shanmugaratnam introduced members of the official delegations to each other. Then, the Head of State left a memorable entry in the Book of Honoured Guests.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev expressed gratitude for the hospitality extended to the Kazakh delegation, noting that this is the first visit of the President of Kazakhstan to Singapore in more than 20 years. He emphasized that he is well acquainted with the country, having previously worked here as a diplomat in the 1970s. He expressed his delight at returning to the country once more, this time in the capacity of the Head of State.
The President described Singapore as a time-tested and reliable partner of Astana. Currently, over 140 Singaporean entities and joint ventures operate within our country, with total Singaporean investment in the Kazakh economy exceeding $1.7 billion. Despite the economic challenges and difficulties caused by the pandemic, the volume of mutual trade is expected to exceed $2 billion in the near future.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has stated that Kazakhstan stands ready to open a new chapter in the bilateral cooperation, focused on a trustful political dialogue, as well as on dynamic trade and investment ties.
In turn, President Tharman Shanmugaratnam praised the progressive development of interaction between Kazakhstan and Singapore.
At the meeting, the two leaders engaged in a comprehensive discussion of the potential for strengthening trade, economic, investment, cultural and humanitarian ties. In particular, the President Tokayev stated Kazakhstan's interest in expanding partnership with Singapore in such key sectors as energy, processing of critical minerals, infrastructure development, digital economy, fin-tech, agri-tech, logistics and connectivity.
The Presidents agreed to collaborate on the promotion of mutually beneficial investment projects, including the strengthening of the legal framework of bilateral relations.
Furthermore, the parties agreed on the necessity to intensify their collaboration in the field of education and human capital development.