President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev held a meeting with Beate Meinl-Reisinger, Federal Minister for European and International Affairs of the Republic of Austria, and Gerhard Karner, Federal Minister of the Interior.
Welcoming the high-level guests, the President expressed his appreciation that they were accompanied by a distinguished business delegation.
“I believe this visit by key ministers of your government is extremely important for providing additional impetus to our mutual cooperation. Austria is regarded as a trusted, long-standing strategic partner of Kazakhstan. Austria has invested more than $3 billion in our economy, and our mutual trade is growing. This is a very positive trend. We remain in close contact with your missions at the UN and the OSCE, and I am confident these links will continue to develop. Austria is an advanced country in many respects; therefore, we highly value the current level of our bilateral cooperation. I believe Kazakhstan will continue to play a vital role for you in Central Asia. Currently, Kazakhstan accounts for over 80 percent of Austria's trade with the region,” the President said.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev praised the dynamic interaction between the two nations' ministries and institutions. In particular, he welcomed the recent entry into force of the visa-waiver agreement for diplomatic passport holders and the Agreement on Readmission.
At the same time, the President underlined that today’s security challenges are increasingly transnational in nature, requiring closer cooperation between ministries of the interior.
In turn, Beate Meinl-Reisinger and Gerhard Karner thanked Kassym-Jomart Tokayev for the warm reception and conveyed greetings from President Alexander Van der Bellen.
“Our visit comes at a very opportune time. For us, Kazakhstan is a key partner in Central Asia, not only economically but also on a political level. We are working closely on security and migration issues, as you mentioned, as well as within multilateral platforms. I was delighted to welcome the Kazakh Foreign Minister to Vienna for the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting, as we greatly value your country’s leadership within this organization,” noted Beate Meinl-Reisinger.
The parties discussed expanding economic cooperation as well as current issues on the regional and international agendas.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev extended his best wishes to President Alexander Van der Bellen. The Head of State reaffirmed his invitation for the Austrian leader to visit Kazakhstan at his earliest convenience.