Kazakhstan, Romania start new chapter in bilateral cooperation

Bucharest, The Gulf Observer: Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Murat Nurtleu arrived in Bucharest with the first official visit in the history of bilateral relations. During the visit, meeting with Romanian Foreign Minister Luminița Odobescu was held, according to the press service of the Kazakh MFA.

The main topics of the meeting of Kazakhstan and Romania foreign ministers were issues of enhancing political, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation, expanding the legal framework, as well as exchanging views on key regional and global issues.

The parties confirmed their interest in intensifying contacts at all levels and strengthening cooperation within the framework of the UN, OSCE and other international structures.

During the talks, the commitment of Astana and Bucharest to an open and trusting dialogue was confirmed. “Kazakhstan highly appreciates that Romania became the first European state to recognize our independence in 1991. You are a reliable and important partner for us in Eastern Europe and the European Union,” Murat Nurtleu stated.

In turn, Luminița Odobescu noted the high level of relations between Kazakhstan and Romania, and also stressed the readiness of the Romanian side for comprehensive cooperation. “We are ready to maintain this positive momentum and continue to deepen bilateral cooperation in such particularly important areas as transport and energy,” Romanian minister stated.

The foreign ministers of the two countries focused on the need to expand trade, economic and investment ties. In addition, agriculture, healthcare, education and digitalization are identified as promising areas.

A striking example of mutually beneficial investment coordination is the activity of KazMunayGas International – Kazakhstan’s largest foreign asset in Romania. Today, the Kazakh company retains its reputation as one of the key investors in this country and contributes to ensuring the energy security of Europe.

Romania is Kazakhstan’s leading trade and investment partner in the Central and Eastern Europe region, ranking 5th among the EU countries and 12th in the world. The volume of bilateral trade in 2022 amounted to 2.7 billion US dollars, and in January-October of this year it has already reached 2.3 billion US dollars. KazMunayGaz’s direct investments in Romanian assets exceeded 4 billion US dollars. Over the past decade, Romania has invested 1.57 billion US dollars in the economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan. 37 companies with Romanian capital are registered in Kazakhstan.

The parties reached an agreement on the joint development of the potential of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TMTM – Middle Corridor). In this regard, the Kazakh side stressed the importance of integrating our logistics infrastructures, including the seaports of Aktau and Constanța, which effectively connect Europe and Asia.

The interlocutors paid attention to the issues of further development of cultural and humanitarian exchange. In particular, the foreign ministers reached an agreement on the implementation of joint projects in the field of education, science and culture. It should be noted that over the past three years, busts of great poets Abai Kunanbayev and Mihai Eminescu, as well as squares “Bucharest” and “Kazakhstan” have been solemnly opened in the capitals of our countries.

As a result of the negotiations, a Joint Statement of the two ministers was adopted, as well as memoranda were signed aimed at strengthening cooperation between foreign policy research institutes and official development assistance agencies.