Kazakhstan committed to deepening mutually beneficial partnership with Finland
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Roman Vassilenko held political consultations with Director General of the Department for Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland Marja Liivala, Kazinform News Agency refers to the press service of the Kazakh MFA.
The agenda of the meeting included the current state and prospects of the development of bilateral cooperation as well as international affairs.
Welcoming dynamic high-level contacts, Deputy Minister Vassilenko reiterated Kazakhstan’s commitment to further deepening mutually beneficial partnership with Suomi.
Finland’s Foreign Ministry officials stressed the importance of close dialogue between Astana and Helsinki, including on the multilateral fora, emphasing that Kazakhstan is an important partner in Central Asia.
During his visit to Finland, Deputy Minister Vassilenko met with Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Parliament of Finland Kimmo Kiljunen to discuss opportunities to broaden bilateral and multilateral inter-parliamentary cooperation. As the Deputy Minister stated, the recently established Friendship Group with Kazakhstan at the Parliament of Finland will contribute to promoting Kazakh-Finnish inter-parliamentary dialogue to a qualitatively new level.
Kimmo Kiljunen confirmed keen interest to facilitate ties with Kazakhstan’s parliamentarians, including in exchanges of mutual visits and hosting joint events.
Deputy Minister Vassilenko also met with Under-Secretary of State for International Trade of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland Jarno Syrjälä. The parties discussed the prospects for trade and economic cooperation between the countries. Roman Vassilenko noted the positive dynamics of the development of trade and economic relations, emphasizing the growth of mutual trade turnover by 7.8% in January-October 2023 compared to the same period in 2022.
In this context, the parties underlined the important role of the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation, expressing confidence that the next 13th IGC meeting in April 2024 in Astana will give a significant impetus to the enhancement of cooperation in the field of energy, agriculture, transport and others areas of mutually beneficial partnership.
The Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister also visited Aleksanteri Institute and had a meeting with Director Markku Kangaspuro. They exchanged views on international and regional issues.
