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Doha, June 07 (QNA) – Within the framework of the State of Qatar’s keenness to build bridges and strengthen relations with Central Asian countries, HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani begins Wednesday a visit to the Republic of Kazakhstan, during which His Highness will attend the Astana International Forum (AIF) as a main guest.
HH the Amir is also scheduled to discuss, with HE President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, bilateral relations and ways to support and develop them in various fields, especially the political, investment, trade, and economic, in the interest and for the good of the two countries and their friendly peoples, in addition to discussing several global issues and files of mutual interest.
The visit of HH the Amir, which is the second visit of His Highness to Kazakhstan in less than a year reflects the aspirations of both countries’ leaderships to develop bilateral relations on all levels, during which several agreements and memoranda of understanding are expected to be signed, enhancing bilateral cooperation, increasing the volume of trade exchange, and establishing joint investment projects, especially in agriculture, energy, and mining.
The State of Qatar and the Republic of Kazakhstan have excellent relations of friendship and cooperation characterized by trust and mutual respect, with bilateral diplomatic relations established on July 1, 1993.
The Embassy of the State of Qatar in Astana opened its doors in May 2008, whereas the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Doha opened its doors in May of 2007.
This year, the two countries will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between them.
The State of Qatar is considered a prominent political and economic ally of Kazakhstan and one of its most important partners in the Gulf region.
Qatari-Kazakh relations are set on a number of agreements and memorandums of cooperation in many fields, with bilateral ties strengthened by a series of exchange visits between senior Qatari and Kazakh officials, most notably the visit of HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani to Kazakhstan in January of 2014 on the first official visit, in addition to His Highness paying a state visit to Kazakhstan in October of 2022.
HH the Father Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani was the first Arab leader to visit the capital, Astana, after its selection as the capital of Kazakhstan in April of 1999.
In the context of mutual visits, HE President Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev visited Doha to participate in the Qatar Economic Forum in June 2022, with his predecessor HE Former President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev visiting the State of Qatar in October of 2015.
In recognition of the prestigious position HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani enjoys in front of the leadership and people of the Republic of Kazakhstan and as an expression of pride in the strong relations between the two countries and their friendly peoples, HH the Amir was awarded by HE President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev the Order of the Golden Eagle or “Altyn Qyran”, with the order being the highest order of the Republic of Kazakhstan awarded to heads of friendly countries, during the visit of HH the Amir to Kazakhstan in October of 2022.
On this occasion, HE the Kazakh President said that the awarding of this order represents a golden chapter in the history of bilateral relations and is a recognition of the efforts of HH the Amir and his role in deepening bilateral relations.
For his part, HH the Amir expressed his thanks to HE the Kazakh President for this honor which reflects the strength and durability of bilateral relations.
Over the course of three decades of close relations between Qatar and Kazakhstan, bilateral ties experienced successive cooperation stages, the most prominent of which was the establishment of the Qatari-Kazakhstan Joint Higher Committee, which held five consecutive sessions of meetings, the last of which was in Astana in February of 2020.
Those meetings resulted in the signing of several bilateral agreements and memoranda of understanding, with the committee playing an important role in fortifying bilateral relations to become a strategic partnership, with the committee serving as an important mechanism for developing and expanding cooperation in the economic, commercial, and cultural relations, building bridges of communication between businessmen in both countries.
Last October, Qatar Chamber (QC) and a delegation from the DAMU Entrepreneurship Development Fund in Kazakhstan reviewed the bilateral cooperation relations in the trade and economic fields, the investment environment and the opportunities of both Qatar and Kazakhstan, and the possibility of establishing alliances, partnerships, and joint investments.
The Kazakh side presented the investment environment in their country, especially in the Jambyl region, characterized by an abundance of investment opportunities in various sectors, such as industry, chemical industries, renewable energy, food industries, agriculture, and minerals, which serves a gateway to many global markets, foremost of which are the Chinese and Russian markets.
Qatari investors are interested in investing in Kazakhstan, as it is a promising destination for foreign investments due to wide investment opportunities.
QC encourages Qatari businessmen to explore the investment opportunities available in the country.
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Doha and Astana, there has been mutual support for the initiatives of the two countries in regional and international forums, including Qatar’s accession to membership in the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in 2015, and to the Islamic Organization for Food Security (IOFS).
The State of Qatar was also one of the first countries in the world to provide medical aid to the Republic of Kazakhstan in addressing the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in implementation of the directives of HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.
Qatar has also pumped investments into the Kazakh economy, especially in the field of infrastructure.
Within the framework of cultural cooperation between the two countries, a delegation from the Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding visited Kazakhstan to see the most prominent cultural, artistic, and scientific facilities after choosing the Kazakh language for the award cycle in 2022.
The State of Qatar also funded and opened the Islamic Finance Centre within the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University (KazNU)- the largest university in the Republic of Kazakhstan – the first of its kind in the Central Asian region and will teach Kazakh students the principles of trading in financial stocks, financial engineering, and the necessary technical analysis of stocks and stock exchanges.
The tourism movement between the two countries is witnessing continuous growth, with the launch of the direct flight between the two countries by Qatar Airways in Nov. 2021, which contributes to opening the fields of economy and trade between the two countries in the future.
With regard to the financial cooperation between the two countries, the banking cooperation was revitalized with the visit of the Governor of Qatar Central Bank (QCB) to Nur-Sultan in Dec. 2019, which resulted in the Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) issuing Islamic sukuk in the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC).
Both countries are well located in terms of investment and business climate, proven by many international and local rating agencies, which gives businessmen in both countries the opportunity to enhance cooperation in various fields, especially agriculture, food security supply, education, healthcare, energy, renewable energy, mining, and other vital fields.
Kazakhstan is looking forward to benefiting from the great experience that the State of Qatar possesses, especially in the fields of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and petrochemical production, and Qatar is one of the largest exporters of liquefied natural gas in the world, and Kazakhstan is taking many measures that serve to promote economic diversification and protect foreign investment and seeks to be a commercial, financial, educational, health, and tourism center, as well as excellence in the field of food production.
Kazakhstan is located in Central Asia with a population of about 19 million people and is the ninth country in the world with a total area of 2,717,000 square km.
It is the largest among Islamic countries, and the length of the surrounding borders exceeds 12,000 km, and it has a border with the Republic of Russia that exceeds 6,800 km, and it is the second longest land border in the world between two countries and overlooks the Caspian Sea with a beach of about 1,900 km.
Kazakhstan is full of rivers and lakes, with more than 8,500 rivers and 4,800 lakes.
Kazakhstan is the strongest country in Central Asia economically, with a gross domestic product (GDP) of 60 percent of the region’s GDP, mainly because of its oil and gas industry.
Kazakhstan also has ample mineral resources, and according to some estimates, it has oil reserves equivalent to those of Iraq located in deep layers, which explains the delay in exploiting them.
Kazakhstan has the second-largest reserves of uranium, chromium, lead, and zinc, the third-largest reserves of manganese, and the fifth-largest copper reserves and ranks among the top 10 in the export of coal, iron, and gold, and Kazakhstan is considered one of the largest global exporters of wheat, where wheat is grown in about 70 percent of its northern lands as well as an active movement for the development of livestock breeding, and has millions of heads of sheep.
(QNA)
