Kazakhstan ambassador hails historic relations with Oman
Times News Service
MUSCAT: Kazakhstan’s community in the Sultanate celebrated the 27th anniversary of their nation’s independence and the growing ties with Oman during a gala event at the InterContinental Hotel Muscat.
The event was attended by senior officials from Oman’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as senior members of the diplomatic corps.
In a speech, the Kazakh ambassador to Oman Yerzhan Mukesh hailed the long history of friendship and cooperation between both states.
“The Sultanate of Oman was one of the first Arab countries to recognise the independence of the republic and establish diplomatic relations with it,” he said.
“The agreements during the visits of our President reached the highest level and laid a solid base for the mutually beneficial cooperation between our countries.”
Highlighting the most significant achievements over the past year, Mukesh hailed growing investments, trade, and medical cooperation between the two countries.
One example shared was the agreement reached between Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Agriculture and the Oman Flour Mills.
“During the bilateral negotiations with representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan and a number of interested Kazakh companies, an agreement on the supply of Kazakh grain and flour and other agricultural products to the Oman market at competitive prices was reached.”
Tourist trips
“With regard to the tourism industry, last year, mutual introductory visits of tourism agency representatives from Kazakhstan and Oman took place, during which an agreement on organising mutual tourist trips for citizens of both countries was reached,” he added.
“In this connection, a decision of the Government of Oman to include Kazakhstan among the list of countries whose citizens can easily obtain an e-visa for visiting the Sultanate as tourists is an essential and timely step. In turn, Oman is among the 48 countries whose citizens receive Kazakhstan visas under a simplified procedure without an invitation,” Mukesh said.
Kazakh ballet
“Relations in the cultural and humanitarian sphere also continue to develop gradually. In September last year, the first tour of the ‘Astana Opera’ artists was successfully held in Oman, where the performance of Kazakh ballet troupe ‘Swan Lake’ by P.I. Tchaikovsky was presented for fans of high art on the stage of the Royal Opera House Muscat,” he added.
Kazakhstan and Oman remain major trade partners, with the Oman Oil Company participating in the development of the “Pearl” oil field in Kazakhstan’s share of the Caspian Sea and the “Dunga” deposit in the Mangistau region. The share of the Omani company is 20 per cent in each of these projects, the ambassador had confirmed during an earlier interview with the Times of Oman.