Kazakh Majilis Speaker, Austrian National Council President meet
At the meeting, the sides noted that Kazakhstan and Austria had established regular contacts since 1991.
As Nurlan Nigmatulin said Austria was a priority partner of Kazakhstan in the EU. For this reason, Kazakhstan attaches great importance to the development of the bilateral cooperation with this country. Mutual official visits of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and the leadership of Austria have laid a firm foundation for expanding all-round cooperation, he added.
"With almost €1bn bilateral commodity turnover, Kazakhstan, undoubtedly, is one of the most important trade partners of Austria in the region," said Wolfgang Sobotka. "We are keen on boosting political dialogue," he added.
Nurlan Nigmatulin and Wolfgang Sobotka reached important agreements on further strengthening the inter-parliamentary interaction at the level of core committees and cooperation groups. The sides emphasized the importance of ensuring legislative support of the promising areas of the trade-economic relations, innovative activity, digitalization of economy, green technologies, tourism, agriculture and cultural-humanitarian sectors.
According to the Majilis Speaker, the Agreement on Extended Partnership and Cooperation between Kazakhstan and EU (ratified by the Parliament of Austria) has a great potential.
The speakers agreed also on strengthening cooperation within international and inter-parliamentary organizations.
"I view our membership in the OSCE as a strong link in our relations", Wolfgang Sobotka stressed.
The Majilis Chairman takled about the international initiatives of the Kazakh President aimed at supporting peace and international security.
He also said that year 2019 in Kazakhstan was declared The Year of Youth by the President. "Today our country is preparing for a technologically advanced digital future. Comprehensive measures of youth support are the priorities of Kazakhstan's state policy now," he stressed.
At the end of the meeting, the President of the Austrian National Council was extended an invitation to participate in the 4th meeting of Eurasian Parliaments' Speakers to be held in Astana September 23-24, 2019. The theme of the meeting will be ‘'Big Eurasia: Dialogue. Trust. Partnership'.
As Nigmatulin noted, the event will let raise cooperation between the Kazakh and Austrian parliamentarians to a higher level.