Kazakhstan, Japan ready to step up inter-parliamentary coop

ASTANA. KAZINFORM - Majilis Speaker Nurlan Nigmatulin has received today Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Kazakhstan Ichiro Kawabata, Kazinform has learnt from the press service of the chamber.

At the meeting, the sides discussed a wide range of issues regarding further strengthening of Kazakh-Japanese cooperation, the inter-parliamentary one in particular.

Speaker Nigmatulin lauded President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev and Prime Minister of Japan Shinzō Abe for propelling the bilateral relations to the level of strategic partnership. Kazakhstan and Japan are close allies in terms of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, peaceful use of atomic energy and sustainable development.

Nigmatulin highly appreciated the special visit of the Kazakhstan-Japan Friendship Parliamentary League to EXPO-2017, adding that the Japanese pavilion was one of the most visited at the exhibition.

Ambassador Ichiro Kawabata, in turn, congratulated Kazakhstan on successful holding of the EXPO-2017 event, stressing that the international exhibition in Astana had become a perfect platform for strengthening relations between Kazakhstan and Japan in all directions.

The Japanese diplomat also shared his impressions of working as the ambassador in Kazakhstan. He said he is committed to further work on effective implementation of agreements reached between Astana and Tokyo at the highest level.