Kazakhstan and Italy to be strategic partners

Kazakhstan and Italy are expected to enter a higher level of strategic partnership, Tengrinews.kz reports. Kazakhstan’s Senate has ratified agreement on strategic partnership between Kazakhstan and Italy, Press Service of the Kazakhstan’s Government announced. “The document was initially signed November 5, 2009 during President Nazarbayev’s visit to Rome. Kazakhstan’s State Secretary Kanat Saudabayev and Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini were respective plenipotentiaries of the two nations. The document was initiated by Kazakhstan within its Path to Europe Program that seeks to bring cooperation of Kazakhstan with the EU nations to the level of strategic partnership”, Konstantin Zhigalov, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, said when unveiling the document. According to him, economic and political cooperation between the two nations has been on the rise. Italy renders support to all Kazakhstan’s external policy initiatives, including Kazakhstan’s bid to chair the OSCE in 2010. According to the Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry, the current relations between the two nations are at the level of exchange of notes formalizing the establishment of diplomatic relations (that dates back to June 12, 1992).