Kazakhstan Sec of State visits Afghanistan
K.Saudabayev presented the Afghan President Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev's message, in which Head of the State congratulated H.Karzai on inauguration and confirmed Kazakhstan's intend to strengthen bilateral cooperation, render assistance in stabilization and peaceful development of this country.
The sides discussed certain cooperation directions in political, trade-economic and cultural-humanitarian spheres, exchanged opinions on topical problems of international and regional security. As is known, for the last years Kazakhstan transferred funds amounting to USD 2.4 mln for rehabilitation of Afghanistan's roads, construction of schools and hospitals, and supplied 2.000 tones of milling wheat as humanitarian assistance. This year USD 1.5 mln is allocated within the Assistance Program to Afghanistan for 2009 - 2011.
At the meeting with the Afghanistan President Kazakh Secretary of State noted importance of Kazakhstan's participation in implementation of certain projects on natural resources development, Afghan's infrastructure development and export increase of Kazakh grain to this country. Supplies can be executed in bilateral format and in cooperation with the UN and other international organizations, and such cooperation could be mutually beneficial and effective, K.Saudabayev emphasized.
Following the results of the negotiations the Foreign Ministers of the two states signed the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan on cooperation in the education sphere. In accordance with this document, in five years Kazakhstan will allocate USD 50 mln for training of 1,000 Afghan specialists in the domestic vocational and higher educational establishments. Beginning from 2010, Kazakhstan will receive 200 students from Afghanistan during five years annually for training different specialties. The Afghans' training will prolong till 2018 within this program.
As the Kazakh Foreign Minister noted, this program is the Kazakh President's initiative, who considers the most important part of international efforts on Afghanistan stabilization to be creative measures, the country's engaging in social-economic and humanitarian relations. Our assistance to Afghanistan is contribution in ensuring stability and development of the whole region.
In the Kazakh Foreign Minister's opinion, our nations are connected with deep historical and cultural roots, and they give additional opportunities for further development of bilateral relations. We stand for active Afghanistan's attraction into integration processes in the region, strengthening mutually beneficial economic and humanitarian cooperation. We as the OSCE chairman plan to make our best to use the Organization's potential for assistance to Afghanistan.
At the meeting with Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General to Afghanistan Kai Eide there were discussed certain cooperation directions of Kazakhstan and the UN in Afghanistan's stabilization, and interaction prospects on the line of the UN and OSCE during Kazakhstan's chairmanship.
"Kazakhstan's way" book by N.Nazarbayev was presented in Kabul. As K.Saudabayev noted, Kazakhstan passed its way of development and reforms, which we can share with fraternal Afghan nation. I suggest that this experience will be interesting, because President Nursultan Nazarbayev - founder of independent Kazakhstan - shares it.