The Gambia and Kazakhstan intend to develop close cooperation within international and regional structures, such as the United Nations, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Kazakh government spokesman announced over the weekend.
This was discussed at the meeting of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Kairat Abdrakhmanov held in Astana with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of The Gambia, Mamadou Tangara, who arrived in Kazakhstan on his first official visit.
During the talks, the foreign ministers of the two countries reviewed the current state and prospects of bilateral cooperation in various fields, and exchanged views on topical issues on the regional and international agenda.
It was noted that Kazakhstan attaches great importance to the development of bilateral relations with African countries, including The Gambia. “Kazakhstan watches with interest the processes in Africa, which objectively has great economic potential. We note the growing importance of the African Union, where our country has been an observer since 2013. Astana is interested in establishing effective working contacts and further strengthening cooperation with this organization and its members, “K Abdrakhmanov stated.
The Gambia’s support for the foreign policy initiatives of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev concerning non-proliferation, disarmament, combating terrorism, ensuring sustainable socio-economic development was noted. Also, this West African state supported the candidacy of Kazakhstan as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2017-2018, took part in the International Specialised Exhibition Expo-2017, and signed and ratified the Charter of the Islamic Organization for Food Security, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan spoke.
Issues of cooperation within the framework of the OIC were discussed separately. The head of Kazakhstan’s foreign policy department welcomed the holding of the 14th OIC Summit in The Gambia in 2019, and said that the Kazakh delegation will be represented at the proper level.
Discussing the prospects for cooperation in the economic sphere, the Kazakh Foreign Minister stressed that Kazakhstan is interested in developing bilateral cooperation in energy, mining, infrastructure and tourism.
