Kazakhstan, Astana, Feb. 2 / Trend D. Mukhtarov /
Kazakh Foreign Minister Yerlan Idrisov is on an official visit to Germany at the invitation of his German counterpart, Federal Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.
"During the meeting, the ministers discussed the current state and future directions of bilateral cooperation in political, trade, economic and cultural spheres," the statement said.
Both sides also exchanged views on cooperation within the framework of international organizations and discussed topical issues of contemporary international relations.
Following the meeting, the heads of diplomatic missions of Kazakhstan and Germany signed a joint declaration aimed at increasing cooperation between the foreign ministries of the two countries.
During the visit, Idrisov also held bilateral meetings with representatives of political and business circles of Germany.
Idrisov also exchanged views on bilateral trade, economic, investment and technological cooperation with Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister of Economics and Technology of Germany, Philipp Roesler. They discussed issues related to implementation of agreements reached during the visit of the President to Berlin in February 2012.
Alongside, Idrisov discussed topical issues of bilateral and international cooperation with Foreign and Security Policy Adviser to German Federal Chancellor, Christoph Heusgen.
Particular attention was paid to the settlement of situation in Afghanistan and the Middle East, terrorism and extremism, crisis in Europe, as well as cooperation between Kazakhstan and the EU.
During a meeting with a member of the Kazakh-German Business Council for Strategic Cooperation, the Deputy Minister of Economics and Technology of Germany, Werner Ressing and co-chair of the Business Council, the executive director of the Deutsche Bank, Peter Tils, issues of expanding trade, economic and investment cooperation between the two countries were discussed.