Kazakhstan, Astana, June 3 / Trend D.Mukhtarov /
An official visit by the President of Latvia Andris Berzins to the Republic of Kazakhstan starts on June 3.
According to the Kazakhstan president's press service, in the afternoon, Akorda will host a meeting of the leaders of the two countries in a narrow and extended format that will focus on the expansion of bilateral cooperation.
Latvia will preside over the Council of the EU in the first half of 2015. One of the top priorities offered by Latvia is advanced EU cooperation with Central Asian countries.
For Latvia, Kazakhstan is an important and promising partner for cooperation in the Central Asian region. This is now the fourth official visit by the President of Latvia to the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The first Latvian-Kazakh summit took place in December 1994 during the visit of the President of the Republic of Latvia Guntis Ulmanis to Kazakhstan.
The following visit was by Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga in 2004 and in 2008, Kazakhstan was visited by President Valdis Zatlers.
In turn, the official visit of the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev to Latvia in 2006 marked a significant and important development of Latvian-Kazakh relations.
Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established on December 10, 1992. Last year, the countries celebrated their 20th anniversary of cooperation. Currently trade turnover between the countries amounts to 112 million euros.
The main areas of cooperation are transit, education and tourism. Co-operation between Latvia and Kazakhstan is mutually beneficial. Geographically, Latvia is a state with a sea outlet.
The largest sea ports of Latvia are Riga, Ventspils and Liepaja are useful for cargo transportation.