Embassy of Kazakhstan

POLITICS

Joint statement: China, Kazakhstan vow to deepen strategic partnership

Xinhua

China and Kazakhstan on Friday issued a joint statement, agreeing to further deepen their strategic partnership.

According to the statement, on the basis of the common aspiration to comprehensively develop the China-Kazakhstan strategic partnership, both sides reiterate that further deepening of this partnership is the priority of their foreign policies and in the fundamental interests of the two countries and peoples.

The two countries will maintain and enhance high-level political dialogues, intensify cooperation in the fields of culture, economy and trade, energy, communications as well as science and technology.

The statement said that Kazakhstan reiterates that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China and the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government of China. It opposes "Taiwan independence" in any form and supports China's peaceful reunification. China highly appreciates the stance of Kazakhstan.

The joint statement was issued during Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev's state visit in China from April 15 to 19 at the invitation of Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Chinese leaders held talks with Nazarbayev. The two sides reviewed and spoke highly of the achievements of the growth of the bilateral relations, stressing that the establishment and development of their strategic partnership is conducive to the peace, stability and development in the two countries and in the region.

Both sides reiterated their observation of the treaty of China-Kazakhstan good-neighborly friendship and cooperation signed on Dec. 23, 2002, the joint statement on the establishment and development of China-Kazakhstan strategic partnership signed on July 4, 2005 and the bilateral cooperation strategy for the 21st century signed on Dec. 20, 2006.

President Nazarbayev is in the city of Sanya now for the 2009 meeting of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) in south China's Hainan Province.

This is Nazarbayev's second state visit to China since he was re-elected as the Kazakh president in 2005.



Vietnam, Kazakhstan look to stronger economic ties

VietNamNet/VNA

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on April 18 met with Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayyev on the sidelines of the Boao Forum for Asia in south China’s Hainan province.

The two leaders discussed a wide range of measures to further promote the mutually beneficial multifaceted cooperative relations between Vietnam and Kazakhstan in all fields, particularly in economy, trade and investment.

They agreed to accelerate necessary preparations for the early signing of framework agreements on the bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

PM Dung said that, while pursuing its foreign policy of diversification and multilateralisation, Vietnam always attaches importance to developing its ties with traditional friends, including Kazakhstan.

President Nazarbayyev affirmed Kazakhstan treasures the relationship with Vietnam and shared PM Dung’s opinions regarding potentials for bilateral cooperation as well as ways to lift the two-way trade value that was merely 100 million USD in 2008.

On behalf of Vietnamese leaders, PM Dung invited President Nazarbayyev to officially visit Vietnam. President Nazarbayyev also invited PM Dung to pay an official visit to his country.

In the afternoon of April 18, PM Dung and his entourage left Hainan for a visit to Guangdong province.


ECONOMY

Kazakhstan eyes $200 mln fund with China's CITIC

Reuters

Kazyna Capital Management (KCM), a subsidiary of Kazakhastan's sovereign wealth fund, is in talks with CITIC Capital, an investment arm of China's largest financial conglomerate, to set up a joint investment fund, a senior company executive said during the Boao Forum.

Fresh from signing a $10 billion oil-for-loan deal this week, the Kazakhastan government is turning its eyes to broader investment opportunities with China, Abay Alpamyssov, chairman of KCM, told Reuters on the sidelines of the forum.

He said that his company was in talks with CITIC Capital to launch a $200 million fund to invest in infrastructure projects in the two countries.

"We are talking about each investing $100 million into the fund, which has not been decided yet," he added.

China lent neighbour Kazakhstan $10 billion this week and bought into an oil company in the Central Asian country.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev was in Beijing on a state visit on Thursday and met Chinese leader Hu Jintao.

China's Eximbank lent the state-owned Development Bank of Kazakhstan $5 billion. China's state-run oil company CNPC also extended a $5 billion loan to its Kazakh peer KazMunaiGas



Kazakhstan, Gazprom meet on gas

UPI

Gazprom chief Alexei Miller traveled to Kazakhstan and met with top officials there to discuss the regional pipeline network and other ties, the company said.

Miller met with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in the capital Astana to discuss shared gas deliveries and the execution of the Pre-Caspian gas pipeline project.

Russia, along with Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, reached an agreement in 2007 on the Pre-Caspian pipeline to bring gas from the Caspian region to Russia.

The Gazprom talks included discussions on the possibility of expanding the capacity of that pipeline.

The Caspian region has emerged as a major energy supplier. The pipeline would travel about 223 miles through Turkmenistan and some 93 miles through Kazakhstan to deliver roughly 706 billion cubic feet of gas each year.

Deliveries through the system would go to Gazprom customers in Europe.

Both sides also reviewed developments in the creation of joint ventures to develop hydrocarbons from the Orenburg oblast in Russia and the Karachaganak field in Kazakhstan.




OTHER NEWS

International silk road rally for Kazakhstan

Kazinform

The Dakar Series continues this year with the new Silk Road Rally that will pass through Kazakhstan in early September. The Rally will start in Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan (part of the Russian Federation), cross Zhanaozen in Kazakhstan and end in Ashkhabad, the capital of Turkmenistan. The circuit is the historic trade route between Europe and Asia known as the Silk Road and is over 4000-KM in length. Representatives of 31 countries will participate, including racers from France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, USA, Brazil, Chile and Great Britain.
The Rally will be the largest off-road rally in Eurasia since the main Dakar route moved to South America in 2009 – and will be for cars and trucks only.

Volkswagen and BMW teams have confirmed their participation; in Truck Class applications have already been received from the KAMAZ-Master Team, the MAN Rally Team (winners of last year’s Trans Oriental Rally), TATRA and Team DeRooy.

The Silk Road Rally is similar to Dakar, and although it is only half the Dakar Rally’s length experts believe that it will be ideal practice for participants prior to the even more arduous Dakar Rally 2010 – which kicks off in January 2010 in Buenos Aires.

The Silk Road Rally will be inaugurated on September 5 with a lavish parade of vintage cars, a race across a special 2-KM route, a concert and an elaborate firework display. Participants, organizers, country representatives and fans – will all convene in Tatarstan, along with TV crews from Eurosport, Supersport, LBCI, Reuters etc – which are planning to broadcast 600 hours of dedicated coverage in over 180 countries. Reporters from 40 specialist magazines will cover the event.

The Silk Road Rally 2009 has been included in the official calendar of the International Automobile Federation (Federation Internationale de ‘Automobile, FIA) and supported by the governments and transport federations of Russia, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.

The event is coordinated by ‘Dakar’ organiser A.S.O. (Amaury Sport Organisation, France), the press service of the Kazakh Embassy in Israel informs.