Vol. 2, No. 18, May 28, 2002
Politics 
Kazakhstan is to host leaders of India and Pakistan for peace talks...... as Almaty prepares for summit of Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures Kazakhstan's Prosecutor General meets with US Ambassador OSCE holds conference on arms tradeKazakhstan intends to receive 2,655 Kazakh immigrant families in 2002Economy
Kazakhstan hydrocarbon reserves: 2.8 billion tons of oil and 1.8 trillion cubic meters of gas POLITICS
Kazakhstan is to host leaders of India and Pakistan for peace talks...Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry is preparing for talks of the leaders of India and Pakistan next week in Almaty, Kazakhstan's commercial capital. The negotiations are expected to take place on the sidelines of the summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) on June 4. "Kazakhstan supports the relevant initiative of Russia to hold such a meeting and hopes that upcoming negotiations will be important for normalization of India-Pakistan relations," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on May 27. The idea of such a meeting was first aired by Russia's President Vladimir Putin at a joint appearance with President George W. Bush in St. Petersburg on May 25. NATO Secretary General George Robertson, speaking at the inauguration of the NATO-Russia Council in Rome on May 28, said President Putin intended to meet both leaders in Almaty. On May 28, the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister confirmed that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee of India and Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf agreed to meet in Almaty with President Putin separately.... as Almaty prepares for summit of Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures The leaders of 16 Asian nations, including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Palestine (Authority), Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan, are expected in Almaty for the first-ever summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures (CICA) on June 3-5.The leaders are planning to sign the Almaty Act that will set forth the principles of peaceful coexistence on the Asian continent. A declaration on the fight against terrorism is also to be signed at the summit.The Almaty summit, coming at a time of heightened tensions in South Asia and elsewhere, is important for its potential to lay down, for the first time in history, a legal foundation for a security mechanism in Asia that would allow both to resolve issues important for all Asian nations and to broaden the sphere of joint interests among states with various foreign policy priorities.The initiative to convene the Conference, an Asian analogue of the OSCE, was first presented by Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev at the UN General Assembly in 1992. Over the years experts and diplomats of the member-nations prepared the Declaration on the Principles Guiding Relations among the CICA states signed by their foreign ministers in September 1999. The signatories of the Declaration confirmed their determination to respect and put into practice in their relations with each other, irrespective of their political, economic or social systems as well as of their size, geographical location and level of economic development, the principles of 1) Sovereign equality, respect for rights inherent in sovereignty; 2) Refraining from the threat or use of force; 3) Territorial integrity of the Member States; 4) Peaceful settlement of disputes 5) Non-intervention in internal affairs; 6) Economic, social and cultural cooperation; 7) Human rights and fundamental freedoms.That Declaration laid the legal basis of a security system for Asia. In a volatile continent that is subject to protracted unresolved conflicts of enormous destabilizing potential and is not covered by any international security structure, the CICA began to be viewed as a unique forum for establishing such a system.Geographic scope of the CICA is quite large. The overall territory of the 16 countries constitutes 388 million square kilometers, which is about 89 % of the whole of Asia and 72% of Eurasia. Almost 3 billion people live in these countries, 45% of the world's population. The CICA members include some of the largest developing economies of the world, particularly China, India, and Russia. The members attract a considerable share of world's volumes of investment. The total hydrocarbon reserves and production of such CICA members, as Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan, spanning over both Caspian region and the Persian Gulf, represent a significant portion of the world's resources base and production.(For more information about the CICA please visit www.kazakhstan-embassy-us.org. For information about media registration at the summit please visit www.mfa.kz) Kazakhstan's Prosecutor General meets with US Ambassador Kazakhstan's Prosecutor General Rashid Tusupbekov met with US Ambassador Larry Napper last week. The two sides discussed prospects of cooperation between law enforcement agencies of the two countries and the provision of mutual support in criminal investigations. The talks focused on a proposed mutual legal assistance treaty between Kazakhstan and the U.S. as the first step towards the bilateral agreement on extradition of criminals. During the discussion Mr. Tusupbekov raised concerns regarding a number of Kazakhstan's citizens being charged with abuse of power, embezzlement and corruption in Kazakhstan that are currently residing in the U.S. and are immune to prosecution. OSCE holds conference on arms trade The OSCE office in Almaty and the Government of Kazakhstan held a conference in Almaty on May 21 on the illegal trade and transportation of arms. Diplomats from Croatia, Bulgaria, Finland, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland, as well as Ambassadors and experts from the U.S. and Canada participated, as did regional officials, including the Foreign Ministers of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, RFE/ RL reports.It was stated at the conference that after the collapse of the Soviet Union vast amounts of arms were left in the former Soviet republics. Due to the lack of proper control the lion's share of those arms was sold illegally to criminal groups, drugs traffickers and religious extremists. It was also said at the conference that a special international board to monitor arms in the former Soviet republics is to be established soon.Kazakhstan intends to receive 2,655 Kazakh immigrant families in 2002The Government of Kazakhstan submitted the draft law on immigration of ethnic Kazakhs in 2002 for the president's approval. Under the presidential decree On Immigration and Demography, the Government has drafted a law on immigration for a five-year period from 2001 to 2005 that entails repatriation of 100,000 families or some 500,000 ethnic Kazakhs back to their ancestral land.Over the last ten years some 40,267 Kazakh families or 175,225 people have returned to Kazakhstan immigrating mostly from China, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Russia and Kyrgyzstan. In 2002, 2,665 immigrant families are expected to return to Kazakhstan. ECONOMY
Kazakhstan hydrocarbon reserves: 2.8 billion tons of oil and 1.8 trillion cubic meters of gasKazakhstan's proven recoverable hydrocarbon reserves, apart from the deposits on the Caspian shelf, are estimated to consist of 2.8 billion tons of oil and 1.8 trillion cubic meters of gas, the country's Foreign Ministry official announced at the summit, "Caspian Sea in the 21st Century: From Politics to Business," held in Astrakhan, Russia, on May 23.The current export possibilities amount to 35 million tons of hydrocarbons a year, Mr. Bulat Sarsenbaev, of MFA's International Legal Department, revealed. The predicted oil production growth will, however, require a boost in transportation capacities to 50-60 million tons per year. Along with the development of the Caspian shelf during the next 10 years, the export capacity of Kazakhstan's transportation systems will be increased up to 100 million tons of hydrocarbons a year.* * *
For more news and information visit us at www.kazakhstan-embassy-us.org
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
