President Sarkozy of France visits Kazakhstan
The President of the French Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy, paid a State visit to Kazakhstan on 6 October. After the official ceremonial meeting, talks were held between the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, and his counterpart Mr. Sarkozy in a restricted and expanded format at the Akorda Presidential Palace in Astana.
They discussed the prospects for the development of political, trade related, economic and investment co operation. The leaders of Kazakhstan and France also exchanged views on current problems in global and regional politics.
The two sides noted that the political dialogue between Kazakhstan and France was an intensive one and was based on trust. France attaches great value to the role Kazakhstan plays in ensuring regional security and stability and to the efforts of the country’s leadership to promote political and socio economic reforms. France also supports Kazakhstan’s work in the international arena, including its forthcoming chairmanship of the OSCE, the promotion of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) and the holding of congresses of the leaders of world and traditional religions. The sides noted the necessity to consider a possibility of convening an OSCE Summit in 2010
“Kazakhstan plays a very important role in maintaining stability in this region. We need your help in resolving the crisis in Afghanistan, in Iran and in establishing new relations with our friends in Russia”, Sarkozy stressed.
Interparliamentary ties constitute an important element of bilateral relations. The Interparliamentary Commission for Economic Co operation is working well, and close ties are being maintained between ministries and departments, representatives of business circles and the public.
“France is one of Kazakhstan’s leading economic partners in the world. Since 2003, the volume of trade between our two countries has seen a more than ten fold increase and in 2008 it stood at 6.5 billion dollars”, Nazarbayev said.
During the negotiations an agreement was reached to speed up the implementation of a host of specific joint projects concerned with energy, the nuclear industry, transport and communications, aviation and outer space, and technology transfers. France is keen to participate in the project to build an oil pipeline from Eskene to Kuryk. This is an important project, constituting a “major artery” in the system for transporting Kazakh Caspian oil to the global market. Also of great importance is the involvement of the French company AREVA in the production of uranium fuel assemblies in Kazakhstan and the creation of a joint venture to manufacture parts for Airbus aircraft at the Ust Kamenogorsk titanium and magnesium plant.
Another important area of co operation is the high tech sphere, in particular the implementation of large scale projects concerned with outer space, including the project to create an assembly and test facility and an Earth observation satellite system with the EADS corporation.
Cultural and humanitarian co operation also has an important role to play in Kazakhstan’s relations with France. Students from Kazakhstan are studying in France as part of the Bolashak programme, and there exchanges for students and teaching staff under agreements between institutions of higher education in the two countries.
The presidents agreed to set up a Sarkozy Nazarbayev commission to monitor the implementation of bilateral agreements.
Nicolas Sarkozy expressed admiration at the speed with which construction work was progressing in Astana. “Before I came here I thought I was an energetic and strong willed person. Here in Kazakhstan I have seen people who are even more energetic than I am”, the French President commented.
In recognition of his great personal contribution to the development of Kazakh French relations, Kazakhstan’s highest State award – the Altyn Kyran (Golden Eagle) order – was conferred on the French President. President Nazarbayev presented Sarkozy with the award.
The presidents adopted a joint declaration on the outcome of their high level talks, expressing the readiness of Kazakhstan and France to develop a strategic partnership.
A host of intergovernmental agreements were also signed with a view to developing co operation in space research, in the military and military technical spheres, in fighting crime and corruption, in civil defence and in preventing and responding to emergency situations, in visa matters and in the innovative development of the real sector of the economy.
Later on, a Kazakh French business forum was held with the participation of both presidents. Representatives of official and business circles covering public health, banking, energy, transport, industry and other sectors of the economy were also involved in this forum.
Speaking to the participants in the forum, Nursultan Nazarbayev noted that more than 40 major companies epitomizing the economic power of France were successfully operating in Kazakhstan. These include such companies as Gaz de France, Total, AREVA, Thales, EADS, Alstom and Ciments Français. French investment in Kazakhstan’s economy stands at more than 5 billion dollars.
Kazakhstan is ready to expand and intensify its co operation with French companies interested in investing in branches of the country’s economy other than oil and gas. Once the idea of a customs union between Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus is implemented, new opportunities will open up for those wishing to invest in Kazakhstan.
President Sarkozy referred to Kazakhstan as a strategic partner of France. “We came to Kazakhstan because we want to establish long term and effective co operation”, he went on to say.
Later that day, the leaders of Kazakhstan and France took part in a wreath laying ceremony at the Monument to the Defenders of the Motherland and planted a tree on the avenue of presidents. They then went to the Palace of Independence to see for themselves the plan for the capital’s development – the “Astana Genplan”.
Kazakhstan widely represented at the ODIHR meeting in Warsaw
On 28 September 2009, the annual Human Dimension Implementation Meeting organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) opened in Warsaw to examine how effectively OSCE participating States are meeting their commitments in the human dimension. National delegations and representatives of local and international non governmental organizations and the media from the 56 OSCE participating States traditionally participate in the work of this two week forum.
The official delegation of Kazakhstan headed by Madina Jarbussynova, Ambassador at Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, includes members of the Majilis (Parliament) and representatives of the Supreme Court and other government agencies of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In addition to the official delegation, the Human Rights Ombudsman Askar Shakirov and representatives of the Commission on Human Rights under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan are also taking part in the meeting, along with around 60 representatives of Kazakh civil society.
Unlike at similar forums in the past where the entire range of the participating States’ commitments in the humanitarian sphere were examined, this meeting will focus on such problems as tolerance and non discrimination, fundamental freedoms, in particular freedom of the media and information, and education in the area of human rights.
In her statement, Ms. Jarbussynova informed the participants in the meeting about the preparations for Kazakhstan’s chairmanship of the OSCE and the ongoing reform of national legislation dealing with public and political life.
It was noted that, with due regard for OSCE recommendations, amendments had been introduced to the laws on elections, political parties, local self government, the mass media and information communication networks. These initiatives, their broad and open discussion, and the laws achieved as a result demonstrate that a firm, irreversible democratic vector has been asserted in the system of political development in Kazakhstan.
Ms. Jarbussynova also announced the adoption of the Concept of a Legal Policy of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2010–2020 and the National Human Rights Action Plan for 2009–2012. It was stressed that Kazakhstan had entered a new stage in the implementation of human rights protection mechanisms and had practically completed the work to join all fundamental international conventions and agreements in the sphere of human rights.
“Our State demonstrates strong intentions to further carry out liberalization of the national legislation in compliance with the growing demands of developing Kazakhstan’s society. OSCE/ODIHR and other international partners play a positive role in this and we are grateful for their recommendations on legislative works in the sphere of reforms”, Madina Jarbussynova went on to say in her statement.
Within the framework of the meeting, the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Warsaw has organized a photo exhibition on inter ethnic and religious harmony in our country along with an information stand on the democratization reforms under way.
The work of the meeting will continue until 9 October 2009.
Addressing modern challenges
Excerpts from the Statement by Mr. Kanat Saudabayev, Secretary of State – Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, at the general debate of the 64th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (New York, 25 September 2009)
Eight years ago, on September 11, Ms. Zhannetta Tsoy, a citizen of Kazakhstan, having kissed her daughter and husband, left for her first day at a new job in New York’s tallest building. Two hours later she perished. Along with three thousand Americans and citizens of other 91 countries she was buried under the debris of what had once been the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers. On that day, as Kazakhstan’s Ambassador in Washington D.C., along with all Americans I could acutely feel how fragile, vulnerable and interdependent our world had become. This terrorist act and the world’s unity in its strict condemnation showed that only together we can make our present and our future safer and better. Indeed, the key to successful resolution of today’s most acute problems is exactly in the world’s unity and understanding.
President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan and our people have supported the global fight against terrorism from the start by rendering assistance to efforts of the International Coalition in Afghanistan. However, there has never been and will never be only a military solution to the Afghan problem. We note with satisfaction that the Coalition members have commenced paying more attention to non-military aspects of security. To the best of our ability, Kazakhstan is also assisting the international efforts to rehabilitate Afghanistan. We provide considerable humanitarian aid to this country, more than that, we are developing a long-term educational program for training qualified Afghan specialists, as we also consider other forms of assistance to that country.
Long-term stability in Afghanistan is impossible without effective measures to tackle illicit drug trafficking. The Central Asian Regional Information-Coordination Center (CARICC) has now been established in Almaty with the support of the UN to fight illicit drug trafficking.
Kazakhstan, as Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in 2010, intends to define stabilization of the situation in Afghanistan – OSCE’s regional neighbor – as one of the most important priorities of the Organization.
The prospect of nuclear weapons proliferation, along with a risk of their acquisition and use by terrorist organizations remains one of the most serious threats to the mankind. As a country that has experienced the horrors of nuclear tests, shut down the world’s second largest nuclear testing site, and voluntarily renounced the world’s fourth largest nuclear and missile arsenal, Kazakhstan has an absolute moral right to call for more decisive actions in the area of disarmament and radical strengthening of the weapons of mass destruction non-proliferation regime.
In particular, Kazakhstan deems it is important to ensure the soonest entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. We welcome and support the intentions of U.S. President Barack Obama to give a new impetus to the process of nonproliferation and the reduction of the nuclear threat. Kazakhstan stands for the strengthening and ensuring universality of the Treaty on Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons. We have to acknowledge that the Treaty is asymmetric in providing sanctions only against non-nuclear-weapon states, although the nuclear powers themselves should set examples of reducing and renouncing their nuclear arsenals. We believe that the UN Security Council Resolution 1887 will open a new stage in mankind’s efforts to create a world free from nuclear weapons.
Today, it is necessary to take even more decisive actions. Our President has proposed the development of the new universal Comprehensive Horizontal and Vertical Nuclear Weapons Non-Proliferation Treaty. The configuration of a new treaty and its contents will largely depend on the proposals of all interested states. An effective measure to strengthen the non-proliferation regime could be the establishment of international nuclear fuel bank under IAEA auspices, and Kazakhstan is ready to consider a possibility of locating it on our territory.
One of the considerable contributions made by Kazakhstan and the Central Asian states to the NPT implementation was this March’s entry into force of the Treaty on the Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in our region.
President of Kazakhstan proposed to on announce 29 August as the International Day for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons. This date has a deep symbolical meaning. On this day in 1949, the Soviet Union conducted its first nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk test site, and on the same day, in 1991 the test site was shut down forever by our President’s decree.
The economic crisis has caused necessity to rethink and revisit many conceptual approaches that have earlier seemed cut in stone. It once again demonstrated the urgency of o The leader of our country was one of the first to share his vision for the world’s post-crisis development. He proposed drafting an international law on the single world currency, as well as establishing, in the long run, the World Emission Centre, the World Anti-Monopoly Currency Committee, as well as the World Committee of Market Freedom. The United Nations with its structural bodies and specialized agencies is the singular global organization capable of addressing such problems.
As Chairman of the OSCE in 2010, and of the 2011 Ministerial Conference of the Organization of Islamic Conference, Kazakhstan is eager to fully use this unique opportunity for strengthening constructive cooperation between various cultures and civilizations, adoption of concrete decisions on this issue. In addition, since 2003 our country has hosted three Congresses of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, now supported by the United Nations. At Kazakhstan’s initiative, the 62nd session of UN General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring 2010 the International Year for Rapprochement of Cultures. We call on UN Member States to take active participation in marking this Year.
Kazakhstan, fully supporting the goals of the Alliance of Civilizations, calls on all Member States and organizations of the UN system to contribute to the strengthening of tolerance and mutual understanding in the world.
In modern circumstances, the regional aspect of solving global problems increases. Our country is firmly committed to consistent development of the regional cooperation for security and development in Central Asia.
Currently, a unique security architecture is being formed in Eurasia, with organizations such as OSCE, CICA, SCO, CSTO, and NATO forming its most important elements. At the same time, the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), convened at the initiative introduced by President Nazarbayev from this podium in 1992, is now becoming an effective mechanism for strengthening regional security and cooperation.
In 2010, our country will take up the chairmanship of the OSCE. We intend to work for the good of all OSCE member states to strengthen the Organization’s efficiency in addressing new challenges and threats, as well as to further strengthen confidence-building and security measures in the Euro-Atlantic community.
In today’s swiftly changing world, the adaptation of the United Nations to modern realities is an important task for all member states. Kazakhstan supports the reform process for the UN and its main bodies based on the principle position of the need to increase the effectiveness, authority and relevance for our global organization. We believe that in the modern world there is no alternative now and there will never be any for the United Nations. We support the reforms in three major directions – the revitalization of the work of the UN General Assembly, the reform of the UN Security Council and the improvement of the UN system-wide coherence.
The full text of the statement is available on the web-site: http://kazakhstan-osce.org/
OSCE Meeting in Astana Focuses on Facilitating Transportation
A conference to prepare the 18th OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum took place in Astana on 12 and 13 October with 170 participants from 56 nations who gathered to discuss how to promote good governance at border crossings, improve land transportation security and facilitate international transport by road and rail.
The agenda included discussions on international legal instruments and new technologies for efficient border crossing and customs procedures, efforts to fight against corruption, transit needs of landlocked developing countries and public-private partnerships in road transport as well as best practices in combating trafficking.
Goran Svilanovic, Co-ordinator of the OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities, said at the conference, “Development and growth rely on trade, and trade needs cross-border transportation that is efficient and secure. Therefore, renewed effort to remove the still existing non-physical barriers is necessary, and we encourage participants to identify priorities and formulate recommendations and requests for OSCE assistance in this regard.”
Kazakhstan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Konstantin Zhigalov said “Kazakhstan’s 2010 OSCE Chairmanship and its focus on transport open up new prospects for further development of Kazakhstan’s transport system and its integration into the global transport networks. It also increases the capacity of OSCE participating states to co-operate in this field.”
Kazakhstan’s Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Azat Bekturov noted, “Through the 2010 OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum, we will consider proposals to develop trans-Eurasian transport corridors and create favourable conditions for reliable and safe transport connections on the continent.”
Kazakhstan’s unique geographic location in the heart of the Eurasian continent, on the borderline between Europe and Asia provides an opportunity to create efficient direct transit corridor between the Asian subcontinent, the Asia-Pacific region and Europe as well as to initiate and moderate the development of transport capacity of OSCE participating states.
The Office of the Coordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities organized the conference in cooperation with Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Transport and Communications, with the support of the OSCE Centre in Astana.
The 18th OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum 2010 will be held in two parts, from 1 to 2 February in Vienna and from 24 to 26 May in Prague.
Kazakhstan emphasizes strong partnership with IAEA
Government representatives and nuclear energy experts from 150 countries and international organizations met at the 53rd session of the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which took place from 14 to 18 September in Vienna. The delegation of Kazakhstan was led by the Vice-Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Mr. Asset Magauov.
In his address to the plenary, Mr. Magauov spoke about Kazakhstan’s contribution to nuclear disarmament efforts and the non-proliferation regime. He emphasized the strong partnership between Kazakhstan and the IAEA in the sphere of technical cooperation. “Closing down the Semipalatinsk Test Site provided clear evidence of the support by Kazakhstan for the cause of nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. Our state has made a significant contribution to achieving the goals of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, in accordance with the principles of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Kazakhstan has also been instrumental in establishing the Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central Asia.” In his speech, Mr. Magauov also drew the delegates’ attention to President Nazarbayev’s initiative to declare August 29th the World Day of Renouncing of Weapons of Mass Destruction, and reaffirmed Kazakhstan’s willingness to consider hosting a nuclear fuel bank on its territory.
In Vienna, Mr. Magauov signed the Kazakhstan-IAEA framework programme on technical cooperation for 2010-2015. He met with nuclear energy experts from the United States to discuss and consider existing and future deals. The Kazakh delegation held talks with representatives of the nuclear energy sectors of Belarus and India, and envoys from the United States National Security Council, and discussed Kazakhstan’s role in the IAEA with the Deputy Director General of the Agency, Mr. Tomihoro Taniguchi.
Kazakhstan assumes the chairmanship of the Advisory Committee on Management and Finance of the OSCE Permanent Council
On 1 October 2009, Kazakhstan assumed the chairmanship of the Advisory Committee on Management and Finance (ACMF) of the OSCE Permanent Council.
The assumption of this office took place pursuant to Permanent Council Decision No. 552 of 27 June 2003, in accordance with which “the Chairmanship of the ACMF shall rotate on an annual basis and pass to a member of the delegation of the incoming Chairmanship in Office on 1 October”. Kazakhstan takes over the Chairmanship of the OSCE on 1 January 2010.
The ACMF is composed of representatives of all 56 participating States of the OSCE. The Committee reviews all matters relating to and submits recommendations to the Permanent Council for consensus based decision making on budgetary policies, the Organization’s funding modalities and annual financial statements and the report of the external auditors. The ACMF also monitors the resources management in the Organization with a view to promoting a judicious and more cost efficient use of resources. The ACMF also oversees the OSCE’s budget process and monitors the observance of the Organization’s common regulatory framework for the management of the resources at its disposal.
In his work, the chairman of the ACMF is guided by the interests of all the OSCE participating States, provides co ordination between the delegations and the executive structures of the Organization on all the aforementioned issues, and represents the Committee before the OSCE Permanent Council and Preparatory Committee.
Kazakhstan faces a number of important tasks in chairing the ACMF, and the chief one in the period immediately ahead will be conducting negotiations to approve the OSCE Unified Budget for 2010. The positions taken by the delegations of the participating States regarding the adoption of new scales of contributions for the period beginning in January 2010 also need to be harmonized.
During its chairmanship of the ACMF, Kazakhstan will give paramount importance to strengthening constructive co operation between delegations in Vienna and creating the conditions needed for the OSCE institutions and field operations to be able to execute their mandates effectively.
