Bahrain, Kazakhstan issue a Joint Communique today

Astana: April 15 -- (BNA): His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa has concluded an historic official state visit to the friendly Republic of Kazakhstan on April 13-15 during which His Majesty met H.E. President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Prime Minister Karim Masimov The amicable official talks covered various issues pertaining to bilateral cooperation in the political, economic and humanitarian fields. A Joint Communique was issued today affirming the two governments' aspiration to develop and bolster the lasting bilateral friendship and cooperation relations, boosting regional and international security and consolidating the principles of reciprocity, partnership and dialogue in international relations. The two sides exchanged views regarding some regional and international issues of mutual interest. The two sides agreed that the high-profile talks in Astana as well as the agreements concluded during this visit have ushered in a new phase in the history of bilateral relations between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Republic of Kazakhstan and rendered a strong push to developing the bilateral trade, economic and investment relations and boosting cooperation in the humanitarian field. The two sides agreed to develop the Islamic banking system in the Republic of Kazakhstan in view of Manama's vast expertise as a major hub of Islamic financing. The two sides expressed their desire to play an active role in the Future Energy Expo2017 in Astana which will shed light on alternative sources of energy. The Kingdom of Bahrain and the Republic of Kazakhstan have denounced all forms and manifestations of terrorism and extremism, urging more efforts in combating organized crime, transnational drugs and weapons trafficking and other crimes which undermine the security, stability and peace of countries. The Kingdom of Bahrain highly appreciated the initiative of President Nursultan Nazarbayev who had invited the creation of the Islamic Organization for Food Security having its headquarters in Astana under the umbrella of Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Bahrain expressed its keenness on joining membership of the Islamic Organization for Food Security. The Kingdom of Bahrain has highly commended the active stance of the Republic of Kazakhstan in resolving regional and international issues and its constant commitment to the principles of international peace and partnership. The two sides emphasized the significance of developing and boosting mechanisms of political consultation, trust and coordination and announced their support to the notion of converting the "Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA)" into an international organization to deal with security issues in Asia. The two sides agreed to develop bilateral relations in the fields of education, science, culture and to encourage mutual cooperation between universities and cultural and academic institutions and to facilitate student and professionals exchange programmes. The two sides also agreed to encourage some other cultural activities and agreed to organize Bahraini cultural days in the Republic of Kazakhstan and Kazakh cultural days in Bahrain. The Kingdom of Bahrain and the Republic of Kazakhstan have expressed their support to boosting the International Inter-faith, Civilizations and Cultures Dialogue and praised the initiative of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev who invited the convening of the International Inter-faiths Conference and the initiative of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of patronizing the Civilizations and Cultures Dialogue Conference to be hosted in the Kingdom of Bahrain next month. The two countries expressed their commitment to contribute in this process. The two sides agreed to create a joint committee between the government of Kazakhstan Republic and the Kingdom of Bahrain's government to push ahead trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation, focusing on the main theme of determining priority sectors for economic partnership between the two countries, and creating suitable conditions to improve bilateral contact between public institutions and also the private sector and if needed laying down the legal foundation for this purpose. The Kingdom of Bahrain and the Republic of Kazakhstan agreed to give special priority to bilateral cooperation in trade, investment, agricultural and banking fields, and to consider all available potentials and advantages in both countries, including advantages and conditions for investments and various issues pertaining to transportation, logistics, attractive trade regulations and incentives aimed to widen the vistas of trade and exchanging of expertise and specialists in various fields. The two sides agreed to start negotiations leading to the signing of an agreement on aviation transportation between the two countries. The Bahraini side announced the taking of steps aimed to exempt citizens of the friendly Republic of Kazakhstan from pre-arranged entry visas to the Kingdom of Bahrain to become obtainable at ports of arrival. The two sides welcomed the Joint Business Forum between the two countries organized on the side-lines of His Majesty's visit, in addition to the initiative of creating the Entrepreneurs Business Council in both Kazakhstan and Bahrain. The Kingdom of Bahrain and the Republic of Kazakhstan agreed to give special priority to bilateral cooperation in trade, investment, agricultural and banking fields, and to consider all available potentials and advantages in both countries, including advantages and conditions for investments and various issues pertaining to transportation, logistics, attractive trade regulations and incentives aimed to widen the vistas of trade and exchanging of expertise and specialists in various fields. The two sides agreed to start negotiations leading to the signing of a bilateral agreement on aviation transportation between the two countries. His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa has expressed sincere gratitude and appreciation to H.E. President Nursultan Nazarbayev and the friendly people of Kazakhstan for their generous hospitality accorded to His Majesty the King and the accompanying delegation. His Majesty the King has invited the President and the Prime Minister of the friendly Republic of Kazakhstan to visit Bahrain at any convenient timing who welcomed and promised to answer His Majesty's invitation. (IY) I.Y