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Prospects for expanding bilateral cooperation outlined between Astana and Bucharest

17.11.2022 11:24 497

Delegations from the foreign ministries of Kazakhstan and Romania held the 7th round of political consultations, comparing notes on the topical issues of bilateral and multilateral agenda and reaffirming their commitment to strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation in political, trade and economic as well as cultural and humanitarian spheres, El.kz cites MFA.

The Kazakh delegation was led by Roman Vassilenko, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Romanian side by Iulian Fota, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The diplomats discussed the results of fruitful cooperation between the foreign ministries of the two countries in the context of the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations (15 July) and outlined plans for further deepening of mutually beneficial cooperation.

Vassilenko noted that today cooperation with Romania is among the most dynamically developing ones in South Eastern Europe, placing Bucharest amongst key foreign policy and trade and economic partners for Kazakhstan in the European Union.

“We highly appreciate the fact that Romania was the first European country and the second in the world to recognize our Independence (December 17, 1991), an active political dialogue was established between us from the first days,” stated the Kazakh diplomat.

During the eight months of 2022, trade turnover between the countries amounted to $1.45 billion which is almost 28% higher than in the same period of 2021 (in 2021 - $1.6 billion, exports - $1.5 billion, imports - $48 million). At the same time, the total amount of FDI from Romania from 2005 to 2021 reached $1.57 billion.

Despite the fact that cooperation in the energy sector remains a priority, where Kazakhstan’s biggest investment asset in Europe, KazMunayGas International, works successfully, a mutual agreement was reached on diversifying the structure of Kazakhstan’s exports to Romania.

The sides also confirmed their mutual interest in expanding cooperation through parliamentary diplomacy, in particular in maintaining a mutually beneficial dialogue both in bilateral and multilateral formats.

The parties also expressed readiness to continue cooperation within the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with the EU, as well as the EU Strategy for Central Asia, which was adopted during the Romanian EU Presidency (June 2019). The Romanian partners were invited to participate actively in the implementation of projects in the political and trade-economic dimension, security and human rights in the framework of the EU-Kazakhstan and Central Asia-EU cooperation.

A separate topic was the large-scale political and socio-economic reforms initiated by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to build a “Just and Fair Kazakhstan”. The deputy minister informed his colleagues in detail about the preparation for the presidential election on November 20.

In this context, Fota stressed Kazakhstan’s important role in strengthening stability and ensuring development in Central Asia, especially underlining that the course of political and economic reforms taking place in Kazakhstan is commended both in Romania and the European community.

The talks resulted in the signing of a work plan between the Foreign Ministries for 2023-2025. Both parties agreed to maintain regular contacts in order to unlock the full potential of cooperation between the two countries.