Kazakhstan aims at active economic cooperation with Asia-Pacific Region - Nazarbayev

The President noted that Kazakhstan contributed to development of interreligious dialogue.

"The initiated by us Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions has become the international dialogue platform. We invite the delegations of your countries to take part in the 5 th Congress scheduled for this June in Astana. This year, the world celebrates the 70 th anniversary of the Great Victory, 40 th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act and the 25 th anniversary of Paris Charter. These dates must lead to thoughts and talks about the situation in the present state of international security," N. Nazarbayev said.

In this regard, the President of Kazakhstan reminded that more than 5 thousand people lost their lives in eastern Ukraine as a result of the conflict there.

N. Nazarbayev emphasized that Kazakhstan supports and hails the results of difficult negotiations in Minsk that took place on February 12.

The Head of State also drew attention to the growth of conflicts in the world and it was highly important to strengthen the systems of international security.

The President also noted that during the OSCE Summit in Astana in 2010 the participating countries approved the idea of Kazakhstan to establish the Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian Organization for Security.

Besides, the President emphasized that the most effective way of ensuring security was close economic cooperation of the countries.

"Currently, the sanctions of western countries and Russia make the situation in the global economy even more difficult, and it has its negative impact on the people and other countries. Kazakhstan is not an exception here. In this regard, it is important that the Minsk Declaration provides for commitment to the idea of establishment of the common economic space from the Atlantic Ocean and to the Pacific Ocean. In turn, Kazakhstan is committed to the course of expansion of foreign relations and regional integration," the President noted.

Besides, the Head of State also noted that the agreement on establishment of the Eurasian Economic Union entered into force on January 1, 2015. "I would like to note that the basic principles of the EEU are respect of the sovereignty, economic pragmatism, equality and transparency. Many countries have already expressed their interest in cooperation with the union and establishment of the free trade zones which means a lot," N. Nazarbayev said. The president also drew attention to the fact that the nuclear threat remained to be one of the most serious problems of the world. N. Nazarbayev also reminded that he put forward an initiative on adoption of the declaration of the nuclear-free world that would document the willingness of all the countries to move forward to the nuclear-free future.