Senate Speaker held meeting with Chairman of National Council of Austrian Parliament in Vienna

ASTANA. February 20. KAZINFORM Speaker of the Senate of the RK Parliament Kassym Zhomart Tokayev had a meeting with Chairman of the National Council of the Federal Assembly (Parliament) of Austria Barbara Prammer yesterday within the winter session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Vienna, Kazinform reports.

Prospects of expansion of bilateral cooperation in the light of the oncoming chairmanship of Kazakhstan in the OSCE and realization of the basic outlines of ?Path to Europe? State program adopted on President Nursultan Nazarbayev?s initiative were discussed. According to Mr. Tokayev, Kazakhstan has set to work within the OSCE Troika and our Parliament has started preparation for the OSCE chairmanship in 2010. Touching upon the aims of the Program, the Speaker noted that they were connected with exercise of diplomatic functions as well as realization of certain reforms in the country. ?Along with a package of economic reforms we have defined the main directions of political modernization of Kazakhstan for the nearest outlook which include strengthening the role and power of the Parliament, provision of independence of the court system and reforming the institute of local self-administration?, he said. This year and during the OSCE chairmanship our parliamentarians plan to be actively engaged in the work of the international parliamentary organizations: OSCE PA, PACE, European Parliament, Inter-Parliamentary Union, Inter-Parliamentary Assemblies of the CIS and the EurAsEC. In May 2009 Astana will host a visiting session of the PACE Political Committee and in June parliamentarians of the NATO member countries will gather in Kazakhstan for ?Rose-Roth? Inter-Parliamentary seminar. ?We hope that cooperation of the Kazakhstan Parliament with the Austrian Federal Assembly will contribute to our successful chairmanship in the OSCE?, the Speaker highlighted. K. Tokayev also told about the RK Government?s measures on overcoming the negative consequences of the global financial crisis.