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Kazakhstan, EU discuss cooperation in Brussels

01 February 2019 [18:00] - TODAY.AZ

By Azernews


By Abdul Kerimkhanov

The 17th meeting of the Kazakhstan-EU Cooperation Committee was held in Brussels, the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan reports.

The Kazakhstan delegation, which included representatives of the ministries of foreign affairs ministries, national economy, energy, the National Security Committee and the General Prosecutor’s Office, was headed by Deputy Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Roman Vasilenko.

The European delegation was headed by the Deputy Managing Director, Director for Russia, Eastern Partnership, Central Asia and the OSCE European External Action Service Luke Devine.

Vasilenko in his speech noted that in December 2018, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan received new powers in the sphere of attracting investments and promoting Kazakhstan's exports abroad.

In this regard, the role of one of the key results of bilateral cooperation is especially growing. The signing in 2015 of the Extended Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (EPCA) between Kazakhstan and the EU was noted.

During the negotiations, the parties agreed to develop a roadmap for the EPCA implementation in order to ensure its most effective implementation on both sides.

Today, the EPCA, which is designed to raise cooperation between Kazakhstan and the EU to a new level and cover 29 areas of cooperation, has already been ratified by 25 of the 28 EU member states, as well as the EU legislative body - the European Parliament.

At the meeting, the parties paid special attention to the issue of strengthening trade, economic and investment cooperation, which is considered a priority area. The parties confirmed their special interest in deepening comprehensive ties in the fields of energy, transport, environment, education, science, and the development of civil society.

A separate point of discussion was the regional cooperation “EU - Central Asia”, which Kazakhstan fully supports and considers one of the additional tools to ensure the sustainable development of Kazakhstan and the region as a whole.

Vasilenko stressed that the new EU Strategy for Central Asia, the adoption of which is scheduled for the summer 2019, will become a solid and multifunctional basis for strategic cooperation between the regions.

On the same day, the Kazakh delegation, representatives of the European External Action Service, the European expert community and the media, as well as the deputies of the European Parliament participated in the discussion on the theme “Prospects for the relations development between Kazakhstan and the EU”, organized by one of the leading European media agencies “Euractiv”.

Luke Devine noted that relations between Kazakhstan and the EU are indeed at a high level, and stressed that two sides have common goals, both on the bilateral and on the regional agenda. He also noted that the EU seeks to play a constructive role for Central Asia.

MEPs Iveta Grigule and Andrei Mamykins agreed that the active foreign policy of the Head of State makes Kazakhstan a prominent actor at the international level and allows maintaining constructive relations with all global players.

Diplomatic relations between Kazakhstan and the EU were established on February 2, 1993.

In January-September 2018, mutual trade between Kazakhstan and the EU amounted to $28.6 billion; this is 30 percent higher than the volume of foreign trade turnover a year earlier ($ 22 billion).









URL: http://www.today.az/news/regions/178729.html

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