Kazakh President offers to hold OIC Summit on Science and Technology in Astana

This Summit was held under the motto "Unity and solidarity in the name of justice and peace." It was attended by representatives of 56 member-states including more than 30 heads of states and governments.

Speaking at the event, the President of Kazakhstan noted the importance of addressing relevant to the OIC member-states problems. Among them - poor performance of the index of human development, lack of investment, low access to services of education and medicine. According to Nursultan Nazarbayev, the complexity of data seriously hampered the further development of many countries in the Islamic world.

The Head of State stressed that the main threats to the Muslim Ummah are internal conflicts and clashes. In particular, 11 member-states of the OIC are experiencing similar difficulties. Such states as Libya and Syria which were recently considered as prosperous are now virtually destroyed. Iraq still suffers from the consequences of war. The Islamic world is under threat of division into Sunnis and Shiites.

Nursultan Nazarbayev called said that the Islamic world should not participate in the arms race and violate the nuclear nonproliferation regime. In this context he stressed that Kazakhstan supports the establishment of a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons.

The President noted that today 15 OIC member-states are under pressure of international terrorists. Millions of Muslims have become refugees who are seeking shelter in different parts of the world.

Nursultan Nazarbayev noted that there are many countries in the world with predominantly Muslim populations who live in peace and harmony with representatives of different religions and cultures. It is worth noting that in Kazakhstan live representatives of more than 100 nationalities and 17 confessions.

The President noted that our country has successfully developed a model of shared responsibility and support which is the main mechanism of the People's Assembly of Kazakhstan. In addition, within the last 15 years our country regularly hosts Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions.

Nursultan Nazarbayev also drew attention to the establishment of a dialogue between opposing groups of Syria. He added that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation should provide support for the truce.

According to Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan participates in the resolution of conflicts in many countries. Thus, our country has actively participated in the peacekeeping mission in Iraq, Afghanistan, assisted and facilitated the solution of the problem of Iran's nuclear program. At the initiative of Kazakhstan and under the auspices of the UN New York and Astana have held forums dedicated to peace and fighting terrorism.

Head of State pointed out that Islam and progress must march in lockstep. He proposed to consistently implement the general agreement on trade and economic and technical cooperation of the OIC member-states and establish in the future the free trade area of the organization. Secondly, he recommended developing and implementing a strategic project called "Islamic Infrastructure Integration". Thirdly, given the dynamic development of such areas as alternative energy, biotechnology, materials science, the President invited to consider the possibility of holding OIC Summit on Science and Technology in Astana (2017).

Nursultan Nazarbayev paid special attention to the one-sided coverage of the terrorist attacks and related Islamophobia. Thus, he proposed the creation of a permanent forum on the subject.

In conclusion, Nursultan Nazarbayev expressed hope for successful implementation of the initiatives voiced at the summit.
The summit will adopt a 10-year strategic document "OIC-2025: Action Plan" and resolutions on various topical issues.