Nazarbayev met with International Advisory Board members

The theme of the meeting was "The economic situation in Europe amid the global economic crisis and its implications for the European Union."

During the meeting, a wide range of issues, including the prospects for the development of the Common Economic Space and Customs Union and  Kazakhstan's cooperation with the EU were discussed.

The participants paid attention to the possible introduction of best practices of European countries in the development of small and medium enterprises, management of Kazakhstan's energy potential. The parties also discussed the prospects and specific mechanisms for enhancing industrial and innovation cooperation between Kazakhstan and the European Union, issues of cooperation of Kazakhstan with the European and international structures.

"Now we are interested in the European Union situation. Experts discuss disintegration of the EU and European Commission President J. Barroso proposal on the establishment of  Federation of the European countries and financial systems' unification. We are interested in how these processes may affect Kazakhstan. Currently, we are working on a new Agreement on partnership and cooperation with the European Union,"  Nursultan Nazarbayev told.

The Board members thanked the Kazakh President for hosting this meeting, and noted that in recent years they have been working together with the Government of Kazakhstan on a number of important issues, among which are Kazakhstan's accession to the WTO, the analysis of new trends in the Kazakh economy and discussion of key international issues.

The International Advisory Board under the President of Kazakhstan was established in 2010. Its main objectives are to support and give practical recommendations to the Government of Kazakhstan on the issues of internal and foreign policy, promote the country's image in the international arena.