Croatia opens embassy in Kazakhstan

1 May 2019 11:11 (UTC+04:00)

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By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Kazakhstan and Croatia intend to pay special attention to trade, economic and investment cooperation. Since 2016, the bilateral trade has increased by eight times, reaching $350 million in 2018.

Marija Pejcinovic Buric, Croatian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, made an official visit to Kazakhstan on April 30.

She participated in the opening ceremony of the Croatian embassy in Nur-Sultan together with Beibut Atamkulov, Kazakh Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Later, she met with the Kazakh Senate Chairwoman Dariga Nazarbayeva, who expressed confidence that the first official visit of Buric to Kazakhstan will open a new page in bilateral relations.

"We consider Croatia as an important and promising partner of Kazakhstan in the Balkans and are interested in developing cooperation in all spheres and at all levels," she noted.

The parties discussed the prospects for strengthening inter-parliamentary ties. The Senate head invited Croatian deputies to visit Kazakhstan.

Nazarbayeva also noted promising areas of cooperation such as agriculture, tourism, information technology, and healthcare.

“Of particular interest to us is the experience of Croatian agriculture with the advanced technologies and service sectors involvement,” she added.

The sides also noted the need to increase the number of joint ventures in Kazakhstan in the field of healthcare, in particular, for the production of prostheses for people with disabilities.

Senate chair also proposed to work out the issue of visa-free visits to Croatia for Kazakh citizens.

In turn, Buric informed about the opening of the embassy in Nur-Sultan.

Buric emphasized the dynamic development of the capital and Kazakhstan under the leadership of the first president Nursultan Nazarbayev. The Croatian official shared warm impressions about Nazarbayev’s visit to Croatia in the early 2000s, appreciating his contribution to the development of Kazakh-Croatian relations and ensuring progress and stability in Kazakhstan.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94