Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Mukhtar Tileuberdi met with Nayef Falah Al-Hajraf, the Secretary General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, Delovoy Kazakhstan reports.
The parties discussed the prospects of interregional cooperation between Central Asia and the GCC, Kazakhstan's interaction with Arab countries, and also exchanged views on topical issues on the international agenda.
Tileuberdi noted that today the GCC is a dynamically developing international organization that represents considerable interest for Kazakhstan. “Our country has stable and friendly relations with all the Arab countries of the Gulf and intends to further develop trade, economic, investment, cultural and humanitarian cooperation with this region. Kazakhstan has granted a visa-free regime for citizens of all GCC member states, opened direct flights with the KSA, the UAE, Qatar and Kuwait. The Gulf countries are the largest investor in the kazakh economy Mukhtar Tileuberdi
Al-Hajraf said that the GCC countries are interested in establishing a multilateral format of cooperation with the Central Asian region, ready in the near future to hold the first ministerial meeting of the “CA - GCC” dialogue platform.
During the talks, the sides noted the importance of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan and the General Secretariat of the GCC on October 12, 2021. This document allows Kazakhstan to interact with the GCC in both bilateral and multilateral formats.
Following the meeting, the diplomats agreed to continue joint efforts to develop and strengthen friendly relations between Kazakhstan and the GCC countries.
As part of his visit to Kazakhstan, the GCC Secretary General was received by Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov.
The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf was established in 1981. The headquarters is located in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia). The members of the Council are Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, State of Bahrain, Sultanate of Oman, State of Qatar and State of Kuwait. The main objectives of the Organization are political coordination and economic integration between the participating states, as well as cooperation in the field of ensuring regional security and defense in the Persian Gulf zone.
