Kazakh Senate Speaker meets with OSCE PA Secretary General
At the meeting the sides emphasized the relevance of the Helsinki Final Act signed 40 years ago in terms of ensuring international security. Speaker Tokayev briefed the OSCE PA Secretary General on his work in the OSCE Group of Wise Men that develops recommendations on ways to strengthen European security and improve the OSCE's day-to-day functioning. Oliver Spencer, in turn, praised cooperation between the OSCE PA and Kazakhstan within the framework of the preparations for the OSCE Summit in Astana in 2010 initiated by President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Concluding the meeting, Speaker Tokayev invited the OSCE PA to attend the international conference themed "Religion against terrorism" in mid 2016 in Kazakhstan and thanked the outgoing OSCE PA Secretary General for many years of fruitful work at the Assembly. The same day Mr. Tokayev received Singapore's Ambassador-at-large Bilahari Kausikan in order to exchange views on the issues of Kazakhstan-Singapore cooperation. Speaker Tokayev announced the Senate's plans to step up parliamentary cooperation with Singapore and that the chamber passed the law on the establishment of the "Astana" International financial center.
