President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev received U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken today at Akorda, QazMonitor reports.
Blinken arrived in Astana this morning to take part in the C5+1 ministerial meeting between the heads of Central Asian foreign ministries and the United States.
In his welcoming speech, the head of state noted that since the establishment of diplomatic relations, Kazakhstan and the United States have built an exemplary interaction in both bilateral and multilateral formats.
"Your visit is especially important in terms of giving additional impetus to building strategic cooperation. We have very good and reliable long-term partnerships in such strategically important areas as security, energy, trade, and investment. Therefore, we are ready to further develop our cooperation,” the President said.
“I would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude for the United States' continued and strong support for our independence, territorial integrity, and sovereignty.”
The Kazakh president also noted that the United States is one of the biggest investors in Kazakhstan with over $62 billion in total investments.
Blinken thanked Tokayev for his hospitality and extended warm wishes on the behalf of the President of the United States Joe Biden.
"It’s important, of course, on a bilateral level, to build on the remarkable work that’s been done now over 30 years to deepen and strengthen our partnership. And I think just in the last couple of years we’ve made further important strides in that direction. The relationship is strong; it will only get stronger. We’re committed to that,” Blinken said.
“At the same time, we’re grateful to you, we’re grateful to your team for bringing together Central Asian partners here in Astana today. And so I look forward to working with our fellow foreign ministers to really engage in even – and ever-more practical work in bringing the region together, creating greater connections, connectivity, and focusing on practical things that we can do to strengthen that work. And I think it will be to the benefit of people living throughout Central Asia, but also to the United States. But we’re committed to that engagement at the highest levels, and I’m just so pleased to be here to advance even further the cooperation that we have.”
The American diplomat also praised the political and economic changes in Kazakhstan.