012302

Vol. 1, No. 2, January 23, 2002

Special Edition

KAZAKHSTAN AND THE U.S. CONFIRM "COMMITMENT TO STRENGTHEN THE LONG-TERM STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP"

The year-end of 2001 was marked by a momentous event in the Kazakhstan-U.S. relations.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev visited the United States on December 18-21 at the official invitation of President George W. Bush. The trip resulted in signing of a number of bilateral documents, including the Joint Statement of the two Presidents on the New Kazakhstan-American Relationship (www.whitehouse.gov), in which they confirmed their "commitment to strengthen the long-term strategic partnership and cooperation", and the Energy Partnership Declaration (www.state.gov) that highlighted "along-term energy partnership" as "one of the key elements of the strategic interaction" between Kazakhstan and the USA.

Mr. Nazarbayev began his visit in Houston, Texas where he met with President George H.W. Bush and former Secretary James A. Baker III, who in 1991 had laid the foundations for the partnership between the two nations. Mr. Nazarbayev presented former President Bush with one of the highest Kazakhstan's awards, the Order of Dostyk of the 1st degree, in recognition of his contribution to the development of an independent Kazakhstan. While in Houston, President Nazarbayev spoke at the Baker Institute at Rice University (www.bakerinstitute.org) on geopolitical challenges facing Kazakhstan. He also met with executives of the largest American companies working in Kazakhstan, whose investment over the years totaled 5 billion dollars, making the U.S. the biggest single foreign investor in the republic.

President Nazarbayev then traveled to New York City in order to pay respect to the victims of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks, among whom was a Kazakhstan citizen. At Ground Zero he laid a wreath and signed the Memorial Wall saying that Kazakhstan "feels sincere sympathy for the American people" and pledging commitment to "spare no effort in building a safer and better world for all". In New York, the President also met with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan for talks on Kazakhstan's role in post-conflict settlement in Afghanistan.

The official part of President Nazarbayev's visit took place in Washington, DC, where he met President George W. Bush, members of Congress and key Cabinet officials.

During his meeting with Co-Chairs of the Congressional Silk Road Caucus, Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), who was presented with the Order of Dostyk, and Representative Joseph Pitts (R-PA(16)), as well as other prominent members of this group, President Nazarbayev thanked them for their continued support for strengthening the bilateral cooperation. He was particularly grateful for their sponsoring of legislation to graduate Kazakhstan from an outdated Jackson-Vanik amendment and grant it permanent normal trade relations. Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) presented the President with a copy of the Senate Resolution # 194 congratulating the people of Kazakhstan on the 10th anniversary of independence (see below).

On December 21 Vice President Cheney hosted President Nazarbayev in his residence for lunch with key Administration members, including secretaries of the State, Commerce, and Treasury.

During the talks at the White House later that day that lasted less than one hour, Presidents Nazarbayev and Bush discussed a number of wide-ranging issues on the bilateral agenda. In their Joint Statement, they pledged to advance "a shared vision of a peaceful, prosperous and sovereign Kazakhstan in the 21st century that is increasingly integrated into the global economy and the community of democratic nations". Kazakhstan and the U.S. further agreed to "advance cooperation on counterterrorism and non-proliferation, democratic political and free-market economic reform, and market-based investment and development of energy resources".

They discussed extensively the on-going U.S.-led international campaign against terrorism and Kazakhstan's role in rebuilding Afghanistan.

"We reiterate our intent to cooperate in the war against terrorism to its conclusion and within the framework of the international coalition. We also pledge our readiness to cooperate in Afghanistan's reconstruction", the two presidents underscored in the statement.

Kazakhstan proposals on post-conflict Afghanistan include the use of its resources across the wide spectrum of needs. Following the visits of high-level Kazakhstan delegations to Kabul and for the international donors' conference in Tokyo in mid-January, Kazakhstan declared its commitment to serve as a front base for humanitarian efforts. In addition to 70,000 tons of grain supplied by Kazakhstan to help feed the starving Afghans in the framework of the World Food Organization, of which 25,000 tons have already been delivered, the country pledged to supply 3,000 tons of grain in humanitarian aid. It also said it was ready to supply the additional 850,000 tons on commercial basis. Kazakhstan is willing to send its engineers, builders, teachers, doctors, machinery and equipment, etc. to help rebuild the war-torn country. The republic is ready to provide a peacekeeping force for Afghanistan and has pledged to send its Kazbat, a peacekeeping battalion trained under the UN auspices, to join in the British-led international force in Kabul and surrounding areas.

Bilateral cooperation in security sphere was one of the main topics on the agenda of the December 2001 visit. Presidents Nazarbayev and Bush said that the United States would consider enhancing Kazakhstan's assistance programs to strengthen border security and increase defensive capabilities of its military.

Having recognized that Kazakhstan was the first country to renounce its nuclear-weapons status voluntarily, the two presidents reaffirmed their commitment to the nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction. "Both sides agree on the need for urgent attention to improving the physical protection and accounting of all nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons materials in all possessor states, and to preventing illicit trafficking in these materials," the joint statement said.

The U.S. spent $78 million on facilities under the Cooperative Threat Reduction program to assist Kazakhstan in eliminating START-related systems such as intercontinental ballistic missile silo launchers, strategic heavy bombers, and liquid rocket fuel storage. The presidents pledged to expand their cooperation on nonproliferation under that pact.

Economic and energy cooperation between Kazakhstan and the U.S. was another major theme of the visit.

"We will strive to further develop an attractive, transparent and predictable investment climate. Achieving this goal requires removal of legislative and administrative barriers to investment, strengthening respect for contracts and the rule of law, reducing corruption, and enhancing Kazakhstan's strong record on economic reform," Presidents Nazarbayev and Bush said in their statement.

The U.S. voiced its intention to cooperate with Kazakhstan's integration in the global economy by supporting Kazakhstan's accession to the World Trade Organization.

"We affirm our desire to strengthen our energy partnership to diversify export options for Kazakhstan's oil and gas and to diversify global energy supplies. We share the view that a key element of this effort is development of multiple pipelines that will ensure delivery of Caspian energy to world markets, unfettered by monopolies or constrained by geographic chokepoints", the two leaders said.

In the Energy Partnership Declaration, signed by Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov and Secretary of State Colin Powell, Kazakhstan and the U.S. pledged to cooperate on energy security and enhanced protection of production and transport facilities and promote further cooperation on electrical power, nuclear energy and environmental protection. For better coordination of these issues, the two nations agreed to establish a Special Energy Partnership Committee to be headed by the respective ministers of energy of Kazakhstan and the USA.

Senate Congratulates Kazakhstan on the 10th Anniversary of its Independence

On December 20, 2001, during President Nazarbayev's visit, the United States Senate unanimously passed the Resolution # 194 (www.senate.gov) congratulating the people of Kazakhstan on the 10th anniversary of its independence.

Since gaining its independence, "Kazakhstan has made significant strides in becoming a stable and peaceful nation that provides economic opportunity for its people", the senators said in the resolution. They believe Kazakhstan plays "an important role in Central Asia by virtue of its large territory, ample natural resources, and strategic location".

Kazakhstan "has successfully partnered with United States companies in the development of its petroleum and natural gas resources", the senators said underscoring that according to the Department of Energy estimates, "Kazakhstan has up to 17,600,000,000 barrels of proven petroleum reserves and up to 83,000,000,000,000 cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves".

The Senate said "Kazakhstan, under the leadership of President Nursultan Nazarbayev, has cooperated with the United States on national security concerns, including combating international terrorism, nuclear proliferation, international crime, and narcotics trafficking". The senators said this cooperation "has become even more important to the ability of the United States to protect the United States homeland" and particularly applauded the cooperation in the war against terrorism.

They congratulated the people of Kazakhstan on the 10th anniversary of independence and said they were "looking forward to further enhancing the economic, political, and national security cooperation between Kazakhstan and the United States".

Congressional Black Caucus: "The United States has found a true friend in Kazakhstan"

On December 20, 2001, the Congressional Black Caucus sent a letter to President Nursultan Nazarbayev expressing "gratitude to the people of Kazakhstan for the support you have shown during these crucial times in the fight against international terrorism. We are thankful for your unequivocally firm commitment to stand by and work with the United States and the rest of the civilized community in our common struggle for a better world for all of its children".

The letter was signed by the majority of the Caucus members, including, among others, Cynthia McKinney, ranking minority member of the International Relations Committee's International Operations and Human Rights Subcommittee, John Conyers, ranking minority member of the Judiciary Committee, Maxine Waters, Chief Deputy Minority Whip, and Edolphus Towns, ranking minority member of the Energy and Commerce Committee's Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection Subcommittee.

The members of Congress congratulated Kazakhstan on the 10th anniversary as a full member of the community of nations and on its "many momentous achievements throughout this first decade".

"We commend the impressive strides Kazakhstan has made in moving away from a totalitarian Communist society and a central command economy to a truly open and democratic society with a thriving market economy showing progress every day", said the letter. The representatives were "particularly pleased to note the remarkable record of Kazakhstan in securing equal rights and opportunities for all 130 ethnic groups, including Kazakhs, Russians, Germans, Jews and many others". They welcomed "the freedom of expression that we are witnessing in Kazakhstan with more than fifteen hundred independent news media outlets operating freely".

"We particularly strongly applaud the freedom of religion that your nation has established for its people who follow Islam, Christianity, Judaism and other religions, which is even more important in our time of increased urgency for interreligious harmony in the world", the representatives stressed.

"We know that the United States has found a true friend in Kazakhstan," the letter said "The decade-long cooperation between our nations in the fight for security in the world, in eliminating the weapons of mass destruction Kazakhstan inherited from the Soviet empire, including hundreds of nuclear missiles aimed at us, has been a cornerstone of our partnership. We are pleased to see American businesses playing a prominent role in developing your economy, and consider this to be an important contribution to the stability of a part of the world notorious for its conflicts".

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The extensive coverage of President Nazarbayev's visit is available on our website.

News Bulletin of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan

(Compiled from own sources and various agencies' reports)

Contact persons: Roman Vassilenko, Aibek Nurbalin

Tel.: (202) 232- 5488 ext. 104, 115

Fax: (202) 232- 5845