Thai Senate President expresses interest in ongoing reforms in Kazakhstan

ASTANA. KAZINFORM – Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Thailand Arman Issetov met with the President of Senate of Thailand's Parliament, Professor Pornpetch Wichitcholchai. At the beginning of the discussion, the participants noted the visit of Wichitcholchai to Kazakhstan in September 2019 to participate in the IV Meeting of Speakers of the Parliaments of the Eurasian countries, Kazinform cites the press service of the Kazakh MFA.

The focus was on the issues of current internal political processes taking place in Kazakhstan and Thailand. Ambassador Issetov spoke about the reform program for building Just and Fair Kazakhstan, as well as about the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections. The Thai side was presented with the main aspects of the 2022 constitutional reform to limit the presidential mandate, simplify the requirements for the formation of political parties, and return to a mixed electoral system.

In addition, the meeting participants discussed ways to intensify inter-parliamentary cooperation. In particular, it was proposed to arrange working visits of members of the parliaments of the two countries. The Senator, Chairman of the Parliamentary Friendship Group, Honorary Professor Kanchanaratt Leevirojana, who was present at the meeting, expressed interest in a more in-depth study of the current parliamentary system and electoral legislation of Kazakhstan.

Also, the Thai senators expressed interest in Kazakhstan as a supplier of mineral resources to the world market. In turn, Issetov mentioned the speech of President Tokayev at the 77^th session of the UN General Assembly, in which the Head of State expressed Kazakhstan's readiness to assist in mitigating the consequences of limited access to energy resources and critical raw materials resulting from disruptions in trade chains.

At the end of the meeting, the sides agreed that Kazakhstan and Thailand have the potential to develop cooperation in the field of trade, energy resources, tourism, and sports.

Photo: gov.kz