Kazakhstan’s Relationship With U.S. On Upward Trend, As Officials Meet In Nur-Sultan

As high-ranking American officials met with their Central Asian counterparts in Nur-Sultan on Tuesday, Prime Minister Askar Mamin said the government of Kazakhstan is keen on strengthening relations with Washington, including trade and investment ties.

“We have great potential to develop our economic relations,” Mamin said according to an official statement posted to the prime minister’s office’s website, mentioning energy, agriculture, logistics and tourism as potential areas for cooperation.

Mamin’s statement came after a private ministerial meeting in the C5+1 format that brought together the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale and foreign ministers from the five Central Asian states. The C5+1 format was launched in 2015 for dialogue and cooperation between the five Central Asian states – Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – and the United States. Together, the countries work to address common challenges such as ways to promote Afghanistan’s economic development within a regional framework.

Washington sees Kazakhstan, one of the world’s largest countries and the most developed in Central Asia, as a promising market for business, despite being thousands of miles apart. David Hale is currently on a four-day trip to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, which began on Tuesday and finishes today. While in Nur-Sultan, Hale met with senior government officials to discuss the U.S.–Kazakhstan enhanced strategic partnership and cooperation on bilateral and global issues. 

Kazakhstan has received more than $40 billion worth of investments from the U.S. since the country gained independence from the Soviet Union, after its collapse in 1991. Chevron was the first American company to make inroads into Kazakhstan, in 1993. The U.S. is currently involved in 17 sectors of the Kazakhstani economy, worth several billions of dollars that include areas such as energy, agriculture, insurance and infrastructure.

In the first half of 2019, the total inflow of investments from the United States into Kazakhstan reached $1.1 billion, increasing by 31.7 percent compared to the same period last year.

Ties between Nur-Sultan and Washington were strengthened after former President Nursultan Nazarbayev visited Washington in 2018, where American and Kazakhstani companies signed $7 billion worth of deals. Agreements were struck with companies such as Boeing, GE Transportation, GE Digital and Chevron.

Meanwhile, ties between the two countries beyond economic relations are also on the rise.

“Kazakhstan is of great interest [for the U.S.], both thanks to its internal reforms and the very interesting environment in Central Asia,” Steven Lux who heads the Executive Education Program at Syracuse University, said in an interview with Khabar24. “The country focuses many issues related to geopolitics and economic development, for example, in such area as energy. These and other factors make Kazakhstan and Central Asia very attractive.”

Lux says Kazakhstan should continue being active to help ensure peace and stability in neighboring Afghanistan and other hot spots, referring to Kazakhstan’s two-year term on the United Nations Security Council as a non-permanent member.

Kazakhstan was the first Central Asian country to be elected to a two-year term on the Security Council – the high-profile and permanent UN body that investigates international disputes and complex international situations.

During Kazakhstan’s term, diplomats focused their efforts on issues ranging from countering nuclear proliferation and the use of nuclear weapons to finding political solutions to the conflicts in Afghanistan and Syria. Their efforts have not gone unnoticed by high-ranking officials in Washington.

“Kazakhstan has assumed a key role on the global stage as a partner in ensuring peace and stability, and in promoting economic development and connectivity in Central Asia and beyond,” Mike Pompeo said in a statement released last year.