Antonio Guterres: UN is grateful to Kazakhstan for its peacekeeping efforts

ASTANA. KAZINFORM The United Nations values the multifaceted partnership with Kazakhstan. The parties fruitfully cooperate in the sphere of nuclear disarmament, implementation of the Paris climate agreement, promotion of intercultural and interreligious dialogue, and the prevention of terrorism, Kazinform refers to the press service of the Foreign Office.

These and other issues were discussed by UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov during their meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on September 22.

The UN Secretary-General conveyed his greetings and best wishes to President Nazarbayev and spoke highly about his recent visit to Astana to take part in the opening of EXPO-2017 and the SCO Summit. According to Mr. Guterres, Kazakhstan's actions in terms of implementing the Agenda for Sustainable Development until 2030 are exemplary.

"We fully support the Astana process on Syria and express our gratitude to Kazakhstan for its peacekeeping efforts. Achieving the agreements on de-escalation zones was absolutely critical at this difficult time," he said.

The meeting was also attended by the UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura and Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Miroslav Jenča.

Kairat Abdrakhmanov, in turn, reminded about President Nazarbayev's vision of the UN reform, which he shared in his speech at the 70th session of the General Assembly in 2015.

The Minister briefed his interlocutors on the interaction of the Central Asian states, preparations for Kazakhstan's chairmanship in the UN Security Council, establishment of the International Center for Green Technologies and Investment Projects, the Center for IT Startups, the Astana International Financial Center on the basis of the EXPO-2017 infrastructure, as well as the prospects for the development of the UN regional hub Almaty.