ICAO to audit aviation security in Kazakhstan

"The ICAO Secretary General's visit is the result of joint efforts of the Civil Aviation Committee under the Ministry for Investment and Development of Kazakhstan and the Kazakh Embassy in Canada, and is held within the international specialized exhibition EXPO-2017 Astana ," the report says.

During the visit, it is planned to hold an official meeting with Kazakh Prime Minister Bakytzhan Sagintayev, as well as the top officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry for Investment and Development of the country. In addition, the Secretary General is expected to meet with aviation industry representatives to discuss a wide range of issues related to further cooperation between Kazakhstan and ICAO.

Currently, Kazakhstan cooperates with ICAO effectively. For instance, in September 2014, the previous Secretary General Raymond Benjamin paid the first official visit to Astana, giving a boost to wider collaboration. The visit of the ICAO Secretary General demonstrates the high level of cooperation between ICAO and Kazakhstan.

It should be noted that ICAO regularly conducts audits and validation missions for the aviation safety and aviation security of all ICAO Member States.

In fact, in Kazakhstan, ICAO performed its last comprehensive aviation safety and aviation security audits in 2009. According to the results of aviation safety validation missions held in 2014 and 2016, the level of ICAO standards implementation has risen to 74 percent.

Moreover, a comprehensive aviation security audit is expectedto be held this November.