Guido Westerwelle visited Kazakhstan first time

Guido Westerwelle visited Kazakhstan for the first time, Tengrinews.kz reports citing the official representative of Kazakhstan Foreign ministry Altay Abibullayev. “The first official visit of German Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs Guido Westerwelle to Kazakhstan is scheduled for August 29. He will also take part in the international conference called From Nuclear Tests Ban to Nuclear-Free World. The visit of German Foreign Minister is of a great importance and has a goal of enhancing implementation of the agreements reached during the official visit of Kazakhstan President to Germany in February 2012,” Altay Abibullayev said. According to official representative, the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of both countries covered a wide range of issues. In particular, they discussed the Iranian nuclear program in view of Germany’s participation in 5+1 negotiations group. Besides, they discussed the Syrian crisis and security and stability in Central Asian region in view of the Afghanistan problem. Economic cooperation has been developing at a good pace between Germany and Kazakhstan. Germany is one of the key business partners of Kazakhstan. “In 2011 Germany was ranked 8th among the countries of the world by external trade turnover. In 2011 the commodities turnover between our countries made $3.7 billion, while in the first half of 2012 it made $1.8 billion,” Abibullayev stated.