Kassym-Jomart Tokayev received U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken who arrived in Astana on an official visit. The U.S. is one of the largest investors in Kazakhstan, investing over US$62 billion in total. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev welcomed the efforts of the U.S. to expand cooperation in the C5 + 1 format. Antony Blinken expressed his gratitude for organizing the meeting of the foreign ministers of the Central Asian countries and the U.S. in Astana. In addition, the U.S. Secretary of State commended the political and economic reforms in Kazakhstan.
“Your visit is extremely important in terms of giving additional impetus to our strategic cooperation. We have built very good and reliable long-term partnerships in so many strategically important areas like security, energy, trade and investments. So, we are ready to have a follow up on this cooperation. And, taking this opportunity, I would like to express our appreciation to re-continuous and firm support of United States for our independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty,” President Tokayev said.
“It’s important, of course, on a bilateral level to build on the remarkable work that has been done now for more than 30 years to deepen and strengthen our partnership. And, I think just in a last couple of years, we’ve made further important strides in our direction. The relationship is strong, and it will only get stronger. We are committed to that. At the same time, we are grateful to you, we are grateful to your team for bringing together Central-Asian partners here in Astana, today. And so, I look forward with our fellow foreign ministers to really engage in even – and ever-more practical work in bringing the region together,” Blinken noted.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Mukhtar Tileuberdi
It bears noting that prior to the meeting with the Head of State, Antony Blinken met with Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi. The parties held talks at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Astana.
