Astana, Kazakhstan, Aug. 20
By Daniar Mukhtarov - Trend:
Kazakh Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov is preparing for a tour of South-East Asia, the Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan said Aug. 20.
The Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan hosted a meeting between Erlan Idrissov and ambassadors of the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) accredited in Kazakhstan.
"The event was dedicated to Kazakhstan's interaction within the ASEAN, and preparations for the Kazakh FM's upcoming tour of South-East Asia, with visits to Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, as well as his participation in the 6th Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations (Bali, Indonesia) and the 3rd International Conference on Small Island Developing States (Apia, Samoa)," the ministry said.
The ministry also said that the meeting was attended by the ambassadors of Vietnam Nguyen Van Hoa, Indonesia Foster Gultom, and Malaysia Hidayat Abdul Hamid.
During the meeting, Idrissov shared his views on how to strengthen cooperation with the countries of ASEAN and the association itself in multilateral venues, such as the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD), and Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).
"Kazakhstan, as an initiator of the CICA's creation, supports the signing of a memorandum of understanding between CICA and ASEAN, and hopes that a number of the ASEAN countries will in the near future join the CICA as members or observers," the ministry said.
The Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan also noted that during the visits to the mentioned countries, special attention will be paid to implementation of agreements signed previously during high level meetings.
Discussing Idrissov's forthcoming visit, the parties said that during the meetings with the heads and FMs of the countries to be visited, it is scheduled to mull bilateral cooperation in political, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres, and interaction within international organizations.
The signing of memorandums on cooperation between the foreign ministries of the countries is being worked out.
Edited by CN