On March 26, Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Foreign Affairs, Murat Nurtleu, held talks with the management of American rail technology company Wabtec during his visit to Washington, QazMonitor reports citing the MFA’s press service.
What they discussed: The parties discussed the prospects for expanding cooperation in the field of transport and industry, opening the engineering center of the company in Kazakhstan, as well as providing internships for scholars under the Bolashak scholarship program.
About the company: Wabtec (Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation) is a global provider of equipment, systems, digital solutions, and value-added services for the freight and transit rail sectors. Wabtec is a Fortune 500 company.
Trade relations: Minister Nurtleu also held talks with the US Trade Representative Katherine Tai. During the meeting, the Foreign Minister informed on the priorities of the new Government of Kazakhstan, the current dynamics of trade relations, and measures to ensure food security in the region.
Minister Nurtleu outlined that Kazakhstan is a reliable trade partner of the United States and invited the US Trade Representative to participate in the Astana International Forum.
Katherine Tai highly appreciated the pace of development of the Kazakh economy, noting the commitment to pragmatic building of bilateral cooperation.
The parties noted to the high level of Kazakhstan–US interaction within the framework of the WTO, as well as Kazakhstan’s support for the efforts of the countries of the region to join the organization.
On the initiative of the Kazakh side, it was agreed to hold the forthcoming meeting of the Council on the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) between the Central Asian countries and the United States in Astana.
At the end of the meeting, the parties agreed to continue dialogue on the main issues in bilateral and multilateral formats, as well as to use the experience of American partners to strengthen regional supply chains.