A two-day official visit of President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko to Kazakhstan started on May 24. Today, the Belarusian leader visited the Akorda Presidential Palace and held talks with Kazakhstan?s President Nursultan Nazarbayev which resulted in signing of a number of bilateral documents.

The two discussed a wide range of issues, particularly focusing on the development of trade and cooperation within the framework of the Customs Union and the Single Economic Space (SES), as well as the overall situation in the post-Soviet space and topical matters on the international agenda. As a result of the talks, the presidents of Kazakhstan and Belarus issued a joint statement, while an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation and interaction between the two governments was also adopted. Lukashenko stressed that his country seeks to extend bilateral economic cooperation, is interested to join Kazakhstan?s industrialization programme, as well as in Kazakh investments into Belarusian economy, as well as in receiving quality grain and petroleum for refining.

“We would like to join Kazakhstan?s outstanding plans. We are ready to go to Kazakhstan, ready to cooperate, we are extremely interested in working on the Kazakh territory,” the Belarusian President

A bi-weekly online publication of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan

www.mfa.kz Issue # 158 Tuesday, 24 May 2011 said. “The basis for the development of relations in these areas, including the establishment of joint ventures, is the complementarities of our economies”. “The major topic today is the Customs Union. Now, we are working on the creation of the Single Economic Space,” Nazarbayev said. “It is great to note that our arrangements find practical implementation… There are 27 far-reaching strategic cooperation projects, five of which have already been initiated,” Nazarbayev highlighted in his turn. Kazakhstan is one of the main partners of Belarus, he said. “The trade turnover last year, after the crisis, has grown by almost 50 percent, and maintains the same positive rate this year. This suggests there are good prospects for our cooperation,” the Kazakh President said. “The most important thing for our people is that Kazakhstan and Belarus have kept interethnic peace and harmony. This is the major achievement,” Nazarbayev noted.

He also emphasised that “the positions of Kazakhstan and Belarus in the CIS, the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC), and the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) have always coincided.”

Kazakhstan also confirmed its readiness to assist Belarus in its partnership dialogue with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), as well as in the promotion of the Belarusian application to obtain the observer status in the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC). Moreover, Kazakh companies may participate in the privatisation of large industrial facilities in Belarus. “We are interested in engineering, chemical industry, oil and refining, agriculture. I think Kazakhstan?s companies will actively participate in the privatisation programme in Belarus,” Nazarbayev said at the press conference after the meeting. “It will bring more trust, ensure the flow of investment, and will serve the welbeing of both countries.” “You can expect the most favourable conditions for your businesses in Belarus,” Lukashenko assured his counterpart. “We are ready to create all the conditions there. (…) Everything you produce here, you can refine and complete in Belarus and sell to European markets,” he said, particularly highlighting the possibility of refining Kazakh oil products on the Belarusian territory. As a result, the two presidents agreed to prepare for the signing a cooperation agreement for the supply of Kazakh oil and oil products to Belarus. “We agreed that we will create new joint ventures with the participation of Kazakh investors not only in Kazakhstan but also in Belarus,” Lukashenko commented after the meeting. In terms of agriculture, Kazakhstan also expressed readiness to become a supplier of hard wheat to Belarus. Last but not least, the two presidents instructed their governments to develop a programme of joint cooperation for 2012-13. Currently, a plan of joint actions for 2010-2011 is being implemented. Furthermore, as part of Lukashenko?s visit, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Yerzhan Kazykhanov met with his Belarusian counterpart Sergei Martynov. During the meeting, the sides exchanged views on cooperation within the framework of integration associations, and particularly expressed satisfaction with the progress achieved in recent years within the CSTO. In addition, Transport and Communications Minister of Belarus Ivan Scherbo met his Kazakh counterpart Berik Kamaliyev. As a result, the sides reached an agreement, according to which, Belarusian trains will transport containers from Lithuania through Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan and then to China, and in the opposite direction, starting from 2011. The container transit is to be carried out by Viking train and at lower tariff rates than of the CIS countries. An agreement between the defence ministries of the two states on cooperation in the field of safety of public aircraft, as well as an agreement on cooperation was also signed. Trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Belarus in 2010 amounted to US$ 657 million which was 1.5 times more than in 2009. In the first quarter of 2011, the bilateral trade made US$ 150 million, which is also 1.5 more than in the same period of 2010.

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