Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev used the platform of the Global Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, DC, this week to urge his peers to make decisive and concrete steps toward reducing nuclear arsenals in the world and eventually freeing the world of the nuclear threat, the way Kazakhstan has done and the way US President Barack Obama wants to take the world.
In his speech, as well as in a number of high-profile meetings on the sidelines of the event, the Kazakh leader underscored Kazakhstan’s contribution in nuclear disarmament and highlighted its special role in the process of global non-proliferation.
Speaking at the summit at the invitation of President Obama, President Nazarbayev listed steps Kazakhstan proposes for the world to take to achieve the noble goal of a nuclear weapons free future. These include the strengthening of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the potential of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the soonest entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the strengthening of the role and potential of nuclear weapons free zones, including the creation of such a zone in the Middle East, as well as the establishment of an international nuclear fuel bank under IAEA auspices.
The President also said Kazakhstan hopes to garner support for the idea of establishing an International Nuclear Security Education Centre in his country, and added Kazakhstan will hold a conference dedicated to the Global initiative on combating nuclear terrorism later this year.
He also called for discussions to start about the adoption of a Universal Declaration of a Nuclear Weapons Free World, which would enshrine the resolution of all states to move toward ideals of a nuclear weapon free world step by step.
A total of 47 countries were represented at the summit, including the United States, Russia, France, Great Britain, China, India, Pakistan, Japan, Brazil, Germany, Spain, Turkey, Israel, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia and many others.
Kazakhstan’s unique nuclear legacy, as a place where nearly 500 nuclear tests were conducted and a country which renounced the more than 1,000 nuclear warheads, is well documented.
Nearly twenty years ago the nation decided to shut down the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site. Soon after independence, Kazakhstan voluntarily renounced the world’s fourth largest nuclear arsenal, and in co-operation with the United States and Russia rid itself of the former Soviet nuclear weapons.
Supported by the international community, Kazakhstan has realized a number of other important projects in nuclear security. In particular, it has recycled highly enriched fuel into low enriched uranium fuel.
The country took several steps to increase the security of its extensive nuclear infrastructure and materials, which is specifically important considering the leading position of Kazakhstan at the international uranium procurement and production markets. All the nuclear objects in Kazakhstan are under strict control of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
In his speech, the President also he noted the significance of strengthening the IAEA functions and its role in regulating translocation and use of fissile materials, as well as better transparency and accountability of member states.
“We need to work out some clear mechanisms of response by IAEA and UN to the cases of violation and avoidance of admitting international inspection officers to the nuclear objects”, he underscored.
“Kazakhstan welcomes the signing of a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty by Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev. Our nation expresses hope this voluntary act will encourage all other states to follow the US and Russia’s lead and reduce nuclear potential of their own countries”, Nursultan Nazarbayev stressed.
The Kazakh President joined other leaders at the summit to adopt its final communiqué and a plan of actions.
While in Washington, President Nazarbayev held a series of meetings on a wide range of topics with Presidents Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, Nicolas Sarkozy of France, Hu Jintao of China, Victor Yanukovich of Ukraine, Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia, King Abdullah II of Jordan, Prime Ministers Yukio Hatayama of Japan, Manmohan Singh of India, Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, Recep Erdogran of Turkey, Yousuf Gilani of Pakistan, as well as US Vice President Joseph Biden and Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, and IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano.
President Nazarbayev Honoured by Peace and Preventive Diplomacy Award
Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev was honoured by the EastWest Institute (EWI) with its 2010 EWI Peace and Preventive Diplomacy Award at an awards dinner at the St.RegisHotel in Washington, D.C. on April 13.
EWI award is a prestigious prize and is presented for outstanding achievements that exemplify the Institute’s mission of “forging collective action for a safe and better world.” Past recipients have included former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Czech President Václav Havel, Chancellor of Germany Helmut Kohl and others.
The OSCE Secretary General, Mark Perren de Brichambaut, offered his congratulations to President Nazarbayev on the award.
Speaking at the event, Nursultan Nazarbayev thanked the EWI leadership for such a high appraisal, which he considered to be an appreciation of Kazakhstan’s remarkable contribution in the global security, including the nuclear safety, and in the global dialogue among cultures and civilizations through hosting the Congress of World and Traditional Religions, held regularly in Astana.
The President of Kazakhstan praised the results of his meetings with President Barack Obama and results of the Global Nuclear Security Summit.
“I am glad to note that the new Administration’s policy on “resetting” international relations reveals its positive results right off the reel. This greatly helps in Kazakhstan’s chairmanship of the OSCE, the most authoritative international security organization.Kazakhstan in every possible way supports the initiative of President Barack Obama on strengthening dialogue with the Muslim world and rapprochement between the East and the West,” the Kazakh leader stressed.
Nursultan Nazarbayev stressed the mission of the EWI is consonant with Kazakhstan’s aspirations and initiatives, which it continuously proposes and actively implements on the international scene.
The EastWest Institute was founded in 1980 to overcome negative aftereffects of the Cold War and ease tensions in Euro-Atlantic region, as well as to promote shared values of civil society.
Kazakhstan Fulfills Its Promise to HelpEarthquake-HitItalianCity
As one year has passed since the devastating earthquake that hit the town of L’Aquila in the Italian province of Abruzzo on April 6, 2009, international mass media reported on the current situation onsite. According to their data, only a few countries have so far kept their promises of extending financial aid to help restore the beautiful town with centuries of rich history and culture, including Kazakhstan.
The Central Asian state has allocated 1.7 million euros for the restoration of the monumental complex of San Biagio Amiternuma. Italian authorities have already been received the money and used them to finance related works onsite.
The Church of San Biagio is one of Italy’s Renaissance masterpieces. It was built in between 1518 and 1545 by a prominent architect of the age Sangallo the Elder.
The Kazakh donations are used to restore the chapel of San Giuseppe dei Minimi, which has served since 2007 as a platform for important cultural, artistic and musical events, and which is a part of the larger San Biagio complex. The chapel is a continuation of the Cathedral of San Massimo and San Giorgio and is considered the most significant architectural monument of baroque style in L’Aquila. This cathedral was consecrated in 1649 and 1770 years.
Since 2007, the chapel of San Giuseppe dei Minimi is a place for youth and student associations. A well known “I Solisti Aquilani” ensemble gives concerts here. Since L’Aquila has one of the largest university campuses in Italy, the chapel of San Giuseppe dei Minimi plays a crucial role in the social life of this city.
According to media reports, other states that have donated to restoring L’Aquila include Russia, Germany and France. Russia’s money is being used to restore the church of Santa Maria Paganica and Palazzo Ardingelli in Paganica in the immediate vicinities of L’Aquila, also hit by the earthquake of April 2009. Germany is engaged in the reconstruction of temples and houses in the town of Onna. Money allocated by France goes to the restoration of the church of Santa Maria Del Suffragio.
Earthquakes mark the history of L’Aquila as the city is situated partially on an ancient lake-bed that amplifies seismic activity. The city was struck by a serious earthquake in 1315. Another devastating earthquake struck in 1349, killing about 800 people. The worst disaster in the history of the town struck on July 31, 1786, when more than 6,000 people died.
On April 6, 2009, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck L’Aquila. It killed 308 people and caused damage to up to 11,000 buildings.
Kazakhstan Welcomes Israeli Investments with Focus on IT
Kazakhstan and Israel look forward to expanding their cooperation in industrial and technological development and have a number of projects to implement jointly.
That is the outcome of the latest visit to Astana by Israel’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor Benjamin Ben-Eliezer.
His travel to the Central Asian nation on April 14 and 15 took place in the framework of intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation. He also had talks with Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Karim Massimov and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and New Technologies Asset Issekeshev, and Minister of Communications and Information Askar Zhumagaliyev.
With Prime Minister Massimov they discussed prospects of further expanding bilateral trade and economic collaboration. Massimov said early implementation of the country’s State Program for Intensified Industrial and Innovational Development, as well as increasing market capacity of Kazakhstan as part of the newly formed Customs Union, create beneficial conditions for the mutual trade and investment activities to increase significantly.
Ben-Elizer stressed the Israeli companies’ interest in investing more actively in the Kazakh economy and expanding cooperation in agro-industrial complex, energy production, machine building, and a few other areas.
The meeting between Ben-Elizer and Asset Issekeshev was productive. Issekeshev provided his Israeli colleague with a more detailed explanation of the benefits of investing in Kazakhstan now when it is part of the new Customs Union.
“We have increased import duties, so it would be more profitable for foreign companies to produce goods within Kazakhstan, and sell them here and to other Customs Union states, rather than to deliver the ready-made commodities. As for the five-year program of industrialization, in its framework we will do everything to create the most favourable investment climate. In particular, we are providing many concrete tools to support business initiatives,” Issekeshev explained.
He also invited the Israeli companies to participate in the program of industrial development and exchange new technologies between the nations.
Ben-Eliezer said Israel is interested in joint projects in sectors such as agribusiness, alternative energy, engineering, and producing medical equipment.
“In Israel, many companies want to invest in Kazakhstan’s economy. Almost 98 percent of our business is made by small and medium companies. So I would like to invite your strong business delegation to visit us as well,” he stressed. The parties also agreed to explore the possibility of opening a technology park with Israeli participation in Kazakhstan.
Ben-Elizer also met Kazakhstan’s Minister of Communications and Information Askar Zhumagaliyev.
The Israeli delegation proposed signing an agreement on inter-agency cooperation and provided their hosts with detailed information on the Middle Eastern nation’s numerous IT-companies. In addition, the parties agreed to consider the possibility of joint preparations for the largest annual technology exhibition GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, in February 2011.
Israel is one of the major partners of Kazakhstan in the sphere of telecommunications, and their development is actively being implemented by large companies such as Gilat Satellites, ECI Telecom, Tadiran Communications, Alvarion, Amdocs and others.
“Kazakhstan has a positive experience with Israeli companies. I hope that we can bring our relationship in IT communications to a new, higher level,” Minister Zhumagaliev said.
Last year, bilateral trade reached US$ 2.5 billion, of which two billion accounted for Kazakh oil exports.
Summing up the results of the intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation, Ben-Eliezer said he was pleased with his trip.
Peaceful Solution for Kyrgyz Crisis Mediated by Kazakh OSCE Chairmanship
Kazakhstan’s OSCE Chairmanship reached a major agreement on April 15 opening way for the peaceful solution to the latest political crisis in Kyrgyzstan when the government of Kurmanbek Bakiyev was toppled in deadly clashes on April 6 and 7.
Mr. Bakiyev agreed to Kazakhstan’s proposal to leave the territory of Kyrgyzstan in order to minimize risks of a major bloodshed and a looming civil war between the northern and southern parts of the small Central Asian republic.
On the evening of April 15, the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Kazakhstan’s Secretary of State and Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev, issued a statement which read:
"Today, on April 15, as a result of joint efforts of Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev, U.S. President Barack Obama and Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev, as well as active mediation by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, along with the United Nations and the European Union, an agreement was reached with the Interim Government of Kyrgyzstan and President Kurmanbek Bakiyev on his departure from the country. Mr Bakiyev has already left Kyrgyzstan.
This development is an important step towards the stabilization of the situation, a return to a framework providing for the rule of law, and the prevention of a civil war in Kyrgyzstan.
In the interests of all the people of Kyrgyzstan, we call on all political forces in that country to ensure stability, public order and the rule of law, and to address the most pressing social and economic problems as soon as possible.
The OSCE stands ready to continue to provide further assistance to Kyrgyzstan to move beyond the current political crisis towards peaceful democratic development.”
On the evening of April 15, after reaching an agreement with the Provisional Government in Bishkek on evacuating Mr. Bakiyev, a KazakhAir Force plane was sent by the order of President Nazarbayev to pick up Mr. Bakiyev and his immediate family. The plane flew from Almaty to the southern Kyrgyz town of Jalalabad, and after getting Bakiyev on board it flew towards Kazakhstan and landed in a regional center of Taraz.
This carefully accomplished operation, which had been preliminarily approved by the Kyrgyz Interim Government, USA, Russia, EU, and UN, is expected to serve as a basis for a quick stabilization of political situation in Kyrgyzstan.
On April 16, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev held a press conference in his Akorda presidential palace in Astana where he shared some details of the negotiations process on Bakiyev’s departure from Kyrgyzstan and voiced his own assessments of the current situation in the neighbouring country.
He said a consensus on Kazakhstan, as OSCE chairing country and Kyrgyzstan’s immediate neighbour, playing a leading role in mediating the peaceful solution for the Kyrgyz crisis was reached during his consultations with US President Barack Obama and Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev a few days ago in Washington, where all three participated in the Global Nuclear Security Summit.
The Kazakh leader started his talks with the opposing sides in Kyrgyz crisis directly from Washington and continued them after his arrival in Astana on April 14. Nazarbayev said it was very difficult to persuade both the Interim Government and Bakiyev to accept the departure solution, but the final agreement was reached, and the evacuation took place.
“The task for today is solved, we have managed to avert civil clashes brewing between the north and the south of that country,” Nazarbayev told reporters. “Kazakhstan has fulfilled its mission on behalf of the OSCE. The most important thing now is to stabilize the situation.”
Now that the risk of a major confrontation diminished, it is time for the Interim Government of the KyrgyzRepublic and all political forces in the country to join in efforts to get economy back on track, restore order and return the political processes into constitutional framework, Nazarbayev said.
The President noted that the Kazakhs reacted with great sympathy to dramatic events in Kyrgyzstan, which led to human casualties. President Nazarbayev expressed his sincere condolences to the families of those who were killed during the riots of April 6-7 and all people of the KyrgyzRepublic. The riots and mass disorder had a profoundly negative impact on the welfare of common people in Kyrgyzstan, and inflicted serious damage on the country’s economy.
“Kazakhstan is ready to extend any necessary assistance to assist a quick end of the political crisis in Kyrgyzstan and its further peaceful development. Kazakhstan, as a good neighbour, is ready to provide the humanitarian aid and economic assistance to the people of Kyrgyzstan. The first thing to do is to deliver additional volumes of petroleum free of charge in order to secure a proper sowing campaign,” Nazarbayev said.
“The Interim government’s immediate task is to take all power in the country into its own hands and stabilize the situation. As the country holding an OSCE chairmanship, we are ready to consolidate the efforts of the organization’s member states to assist Kyrgyzstan on that. Once again I call on all the political forces in the country to start work on improving lives and protecting rights of common people, citizens of Kyrgyzstan,” he added.
The President also shared his views on the reasons for the conflict. Nazarbayev said that already five years ago, during the first revolution in the neighbouring country which then toppled the government of Askar Akayev, he used the quote from Victor Hugo which reads “revolution breeds poverty, poverty again breeds revolution.”
“It is one thing to declare independence, and it is another thing altogether to strengthen it and hold on to it,” Nazarbayev said bringing up the need for governments to ensure economic problems are resolved. “People need to be given work, there lives must be improved.”
Also in the News:
President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India, during their meeting in Washington on April 11 on the eve of the the Global Nuclear Security Summit, reached an agreement to continue intergovernmental negotiations on civil nuclear cooperation. India’s Minister for External Affairs S.M. Krishna is going to visit Kazakhstan in May to draw a road map for implementing agreements reached between the two countries during President Nazarbayev’s latest official visit to New Delhi in January 2009. The Kazakh President also invited Indian companies to invest heavily in Kazakhstan. Singh and Nazarbayev also discussed the situation in Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan. Both agreed on the importance of stability, security and economic development of Afghanistan and also expressed concern with drug trafficking.
The Industrialization Map of Kazakhstan for 2010-2014 will include 236 projects worth 7.2 trillion tenge, First Deputy Minister of Industry and New Technologies Albert Rau informed. “In general, we considered 385 projects for inclusion in the framework of the map and selected 236, of which 144 projects are to be completed this year,” Rau said. According to him, most projects will be implemented in the agro-industrial complex (53 projects), metallurgy (37 projects), construction (33 projects), petrochemical and pharmaceutical (27 projects) industries.
Astana hosted a round table discussion on issues related to Kazakhstan’s participation in the Customs Union. Kazakh and Russian scientists have agreed to jointly estimate the economic benefits and risks associated with the creation of a Single Economic Space for the three nations. At the same time, representatives of the academia of both countries stressed the positive developments expected from deepening integration. One large market with a population of 160 million people will be created. Significant economic benefits are expected within the next five years, with forecasts predicting 15 percent increase in GDP, or US$ 400 billion of the integration-caused additional value.
The Association of Business Women of Kazakhstan reported on their joint project with Chevron company on arranging courses for retraining unemployed women. To date, 440 women have already been retrained. 80 percent of those were able to find a new job, while 10 percent even launched their own businesses. The courses are free of charge.
A ceremony of signing a memorandum of understanding and cooperation between the “Zerde” fund for scientific innovational activities and the University of Cambridge took place last week. The purpose of the memorandum is to develop partnerships for sharing experiences in implementing new information technologies. The memorandum stipulates mutual cooperation in the commercialization of innovative developments at Cambridge in information and communications sector in Kazakhstan, including through joint Kazakh-British businesses. It is expected the signing of the memorandum will provide opportunities to promote Kazakh businesses in Western markets through a network of venture funds functioning around the University of Cambridge and its parks.
In Tel Aviv, a concert orchestra of Israel has represented a program, which fully consisted of works of Kazakh composers. The Symphony Orchestra of Israel and the Kazakh folklore-ethnographic ensemble “Turan” (conductor - Benjamin Yusupov) took part in the concert.
Things to Watch:
On April 21-23, President Nursultan Nazarbayev will pay a state visit to the Republic of Korea at the invitation of his Korean counterpart, Lee Myung-bak. Apart from holding bilateral talks with Korea’s leadership and overseeing signing of a number of Kazakh-Korean agreements and contracts, the Kazakh leader is expected to attend the ceremony of launching Kazakhstan’s Year in the Republic of Korea.
On April 16-22, UK Special Representative for International Trade and Investment Prince Andrew, Duke of York is on a visit to Kazakhstan. He is scheduled to meet a number of high-ranking Kazakh officials to discuss the issues of expanding economic cooperation between the two countries.
ASTANA CALLING is a bi-weekly online publication of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Please send your requests and questions to pressa@mid.kz
