Kazakhstan can become ‘Islamic G20’ member

ASTANA. KAZINFORM Kazakhstan can become a member of the OIS-15 Group, that can be established in a similar manner as the G-20, said the Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Kazakh Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Bakhyt Batyrshayev, Kazinform correspondent reports.  

"After the President made the statement, we held an urgent consultation because there are many organizational issues. We have already started the work. (...) This group will include Kazakhstan, UAE, Kuwait, Malaysia, Pakistan. That is, the economic potential and other factors will be taken into account," Mr. Batyrshayev told a briefing summarizing the results of the First OIC Summit on Science and Technology.

Further, he also mentioned such countries as Saudi Arabia and Indonesia. According to him, the experts need to determine the membership criteria, the agenda. "In principle, I would like to say that the initiative of the President of Kazakhstan has already been supported. Currently, the work for clarification and specific implementation of this initiative remains to be done for the coming period," he noted.

As a reminder , yesterday the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev proposed to create a forum of 15 leading OIC countries with the format resembling the Group of Twenty.