The regular round of the Kazakh-Colombian inter-ministerial political consultations at the level of the Deputy Ministers of Foreign Affairs of two countries took place in the Colombian capital.
During the negotiations, Deputy Minister Yerzhan Ashikbayev focused on the good potential to develop the bilateral cooperation in the energy sector, the mining industry, as well as on building business ties among small and medium-sized businesses, taking into account the attractiveness of the transit and transport opportunities of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Having conveyed congratulations of the head of the Kazakh Foreign Ministry, Mukhtar Tleuberdi, to the newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, Claudia Blum, the Kazakh diplomat expressed hope for the next round of political consultations in Nur Sultan with her participation.
In turn, Colombian Vice-Minister Francisco Echeverri praised the development of political dialogue and expressed hope for expanding trade-economical and cultural-humanitarian cooperation, also expressed his readiness to continue Spanish courses for Kazakhstani diplomats and students of the Academy of Public Administration under the President of Kazakhstan, which have been held since 2015.
During the negotiations, the Parties also expressed interest in working closely on issues of maintaining international peace and security, combating new challenges and threats, promoting nuclear non-proliferation and the fight against terrorism, and also discussed practical aspects of joining the OECD and agreed on mutual support within international organizations.
Following the talks, representatives of the foreign affairs authorities of both states signed an Agreement on exemption from visa requirements for holders of diplomatic and service passports, which complemented already simplified on a reciprocal basis the visa regime for the short-term travel of citizens of this countries.
