17 Jan 2018 11:56

Kazakhstan, U.S. to strengthen interaction in finance, aviation, space exploration

ASTANA. Jan 17 (Interfax) - Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and U.S. President Donald Trump have agreed to strengthen bilateral economic cooperation at negotiations in Washington, the Kazakh presidential press service said in a statement.

"Nazarbayev and Trump have expressed the readiness to promote fair and mutually advantageous economic partnership, which is bound to enlarge bilateral trade and investment and create jobs and opportunities in both countries," the statement said.

Nazarbayev noted the U.S. role of a leading investor in the Kazakh economy.

Trump indicated the importance of Kazakhstan's commitment to the World Trade Organization (WTO), fair labor relations, inviolability of contracts, and protection of intellectual property rights, which is an integral condition of membership in international economic organizations. He welcomed Kazakhstan's ambition to develop a diversified and innovative economy and noted the interest of U.S. financial development institutes in drawing investment in Kazakhstan, the statement said.

"Both leaders backed legislative measures encouraging the development of a constant normal trade relationship and said that such a status of Kazakhstan would further bilateral commerce. The two presidents stated the growing level of the strategic energy dialogue, which determined principal areas of bilateral energy cooperation, including the oil-and-gas sector, the nuclear non-proliferation, and the development of the civilian atomic-energy industry," the statement said.

The sides expressed their readiness to develop bilateral cooperation in the digital economy, healthcare, commercial aviation, finance, banking, agriculture, and space exploration.

"Kazakhstan and the United States are set to heighten cooperation in the use of space technologies for the assessment of environmental threats and the minimization of the risk of natural calamities in Kazakhstan. The leaders also intend to hold consultations on the question of sanctions in order to avoid any unwitting implications for the Kazakh economy," the statement said.