Photo: Mfa.kz

The Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of Albania Ditmir Bushati visited Astana, which became the first official visit of a foreign minister from Albania to Kazakhstan in the history of bilateral relations, reports the press service of Kazakh Foreign Ministry.

During the conversation with Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov, the parties discussed in detail the state and prospects of political, trade, economic and cultural relationship. Construction, energy, agriculture, transport, infrastructure, logistics and tourism were identified as promising areas of cooperation.

The Albanian delegation was informed about the favorable conditions and preferences for foreign investors in Kazakhstan, as well as opportunities for collaboration in the framework of the Astana International Financial Center.

The trade turnover between the two countries remains low. Therefore, in order to advance trade and economic relations, an agreement was reached to accelerate the process of signing three fundamental agreements: on trade and economic cooperation, on the promotion and mutual protection of investments and on avoidance of double taxation. In addition, documents on mutual legal assistance are on the agenda of negotiations.

In this context, the personal contribution of President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev to the settlement of international conflicts was emphasized, as well as the initiatives of the head of Kazakhstan in the framework of The Astana Club - updating the Helsinki process in 1975 and holding a conference on security and cooperation in Astana in 2020, as well as the first joint consultative meeting of the OSCE, the CICA and the ASEAN Regional Forum.

During the talks, the Kazakh side also expressed its readiness to support the candidacy of Albania for the OSCE chairmanship in 2020 and to share the experience of its chairmanship in this organization.

Following the meeting, the diplomats signed a Protocol on Cooperation between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, and also adopted a Memorandum on Cooperation between the Chambers of Commerce.

Within the framework of Bushati's visit, meetings are also scheduled with the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan, the Government, the Ministry of Investment and Development and National Company Kazakh Invest JSC, as well as a meeting in the Chamber of Commerce “Atameken".

"The Qazaq Times"