The Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Ditmir Bushati held  an official visit in Astana, Kazakhstan. During this visit, the first of a foreign minister of Albania during these 25 years, Bushati met with the Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov of the Republic of Kazakhstan and was received by Senate Speaker Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
At the meeting with Kazakh counterpart, Minister Bushati emphasized the importance of intensifying economic and trade relations, through the concretization of ties in various business sectors in areas of mutual interest between the two countries.
He called promising the bilateral co-operation for the realization of projects in the field of oil and gas, infrastructure, tourism, agriculture and underlined the need to foster contacts between the business communities of both countries in order to benefit as much as possible from all possible cooperation spaces. During the meeting, Minister Bushati thanked his counterpart for extending multilateral cooperation by reaffirming further engagement in security issues, the fight against terrorism, organized crime and other transnational challenges and threats.
In this framework, Minister Bushati and counterpart Abdrakhmanov discussed on co-operation in international organizations and strengthening multilateral cooperation, including the support for Albania’s candidacy for taking the OSCE Presidency in 2020.
Minister Bushati focused on the Albanian diaspora present in the Kazakh capital Astana, for which he said that it is a bridge and a factor for the development of business and trade relations between the two countries.
On his part, Minister Abdrakhmanov expressed the interest of Kazakhstan for further promotion of cooperation relations with Albania, especially in the economic aspect, and jointly with Minister Bushati agreed to finalize the legal framework that will facilitate co-operation in this regard. During this visit, Minister Bushati was accompanied by a group of Albanian businessmen. At the end of the meeting, two agreements were signed, the Protocol of Cooperation between the two Foreign Ministries and the Protocol of Cooperation between the two Chambers of Commerce.