(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Muscat- In the coming few days the Republic of Kazakhstan will celebrates it's 26th Independence Day. It is encouraging to note that the Sultanate of Oman was one of the first Arab countries to recognize the independence of our republic and establish diplomatic relations with it.
By the way, this year (April 27) has marked 25 years of diplomatic relations between our friendly countries. On this remarkable occasion, the heads of the foreign ministries of two states, Kazakhstan - HE Kairat Abdrakhmanov, and Oman - HE Yusuf ben Alawi, exchanged congratulatory messages.
Over the years, very close and trustworthy personal relationships between the leaders of our countries - HE President Nursultan Nazarbayev and HE Sultan Qaboos Bin Said - were established.
Our President twice paid an official visits to Oman. The agreements, reached at the highest level, laid a solid base for mutually beneficial cooperation between our countries.
A fresh impetus was provided by the political consultations between the foreign ministries of the two countries held in September last year in Muscat.
Oman national company Oman Oil is successfully operating in Kazakhstan.
Cooperation in the agricultural sector has a great potential. Last year, for the first time, the first flock of Kazakhstani sheep was delivered to Oman. The parties intend to continue to strengthen collaboration in this direction.
In this regard, the functioning of the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway, as well as the accession of Kazakhstan to the multimodal transit corridor Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Iran-Oman (Ashgabat Agreement) in recent times, will undoubtedly contribute to the activation of cargo and the growth of mutual trade between the countries of Central Asia and the GCC states.
Tourism industry is also recognized as a perspective direction. The current year mutual introductory visits of Kazakhstan and Oman tourist agencies representatives have taken place, during which an agreement on organizing mutual tourist trips for citizens of both countries was reached.
In this connection, a recent decision of the Government of Oman to include Kazakhstan in the list of countries whose citizens can easily obtain an e-visa for visiting the Sultanate as tourists is an essential and timely step.
Kazakhstan and Oman are ready in near future to sign the Agreement on mutual exemption from visa requirements for holders of diplomatic, special and service passports.
Relations in the cultural and humanitarian sphere continue to develop gradually. In September this year, the first tour of the 'Astana Opera artists has been successfully held in Oman. In the performance of Kazakh ballet troupe 'Swan Lake by P.I.Tchaikovsky was presented for the fans of high art on the stage of the Royal Opera House Muscat.
Generally, the past year was full of significant events for Kazakhstan. Since January 1, 2017 Kazakhstan with the support of the Sultanate of Oman and other friendly countries for the first time in history has become a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. We consider our election to this authoritative body, as an international recognition of Kazakhstan's foreign policy maturity, well -deserved achievement of our independence.
The Republic of Kazakhstan, as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, pursues a proactive policy aimed at achieving security and peace, facilitating the resolution of conflict situations. A vivid example here is the "Astana Process", in which seven rounds of international negotiations to resolve the situation in Syria under the sponsorship of Russia, Iran and Turkey were held in the capital of Kazakhstan since the beginning of the year.
In January 2018, Kazakhstan begins its chairmanship in the Security Council with a high-level debate holding. The main agenda will be the integration processes in Central Asia and search for a solution to the situation in Afghanistan.
An international milestone of the year was the specialized exhibition EXPO-2017 in Astana with a theme 'Future Energy, attended by 115 states and more than 20 international organizations. Within three months (from June 10 to September 10), the exhibition was visited by around 4 million people.
It is symbolic that the official closing ceremony of the exhibition was crowned with the holding of the First OIC Summit on Science and Technology with the participation of the heads of state and government, as well as high-ranking representatives of the Muslim states majority, including the government delegation of the Sultanate of Oman led by the Minister of Higher Education - HH Mrs. Rawia Al Busaidi.
Last year was marked by significant and fateful events in the socio - political life of Kazakhstan. At the initiative of the President of the country - the Leader of the Nation, Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan has embarked on profound changes. In particular, the constitutional reform was carried out, in the framework of which the redistribution of powers between branches of government was implemented. The responsibility of the Government has been strengthened, the powers of Parliament have been significantly expanded.
Kazakhstan also began to modernize its economy, the essence of which is to move to a qualitatively new technological level of development to strengthen country's competitiveness in global markets.
The main goal of the current Strategy 'Kazakhstan – 2050 is to enter the club of top 30 most developed countries of the world.
However, all that is difficult to achieve without realization a modernization of the public consciousness of Kazakhstan's identity. One of the key tasks launched by President Nursultan Nazarbayev on national modernization is a phased transition, and in fact the return of the Kazakh language to the Latin script. This step will not only give an impetus to the modernization of the Kazakh language, but will also promote cultural and humanitarian rapprochement with other Turkic-speaking peoples and countries, and simplify integration into the world scientific, educational, information and business space.
Availing of this opportunity we would like to extend our hearty congratulations to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said and the friendly Omani people on the occasion of the 47th National Day and wishing good health and long life to His Majesty, prosperity and welfare to the Sultanate of Oman.
MENAFN1412201701410000ID1096234080
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.