Kazakhstan, U.S united by individualism – US Ambassador

    By D. Mukhtarov
    Kazakhstan and the U.S are united by their spirit of individualism, U.S Ambassador to Astana Kenneth Fairfax.
    “Both Kazakhstan and the U.S are young countries united by common ideals and principles,” the U.S diplomat said on the occasion of the 236^th anniversary of U.S. Independence and Astana Day.
    “A spirit of individualism, a desire for self-determination, openness and acceptance of multi-ethnic, multicultural and multi-faith society, working toward the future, as well as a belief that any country can play a role in achieving global peace and prosperity are the values and principles shared by our countries.”
    He said these principles have been the basis of 20 years of developing friendly relations between the U.S. and Kazakhstan.
    “Kazakhstan, as well as the U.S, is opened for the whole world,” he said. “Since gaining its independence, Kazakhstan has conducted significant macro-economic reforms to attract foreign investments, which has laid a foundation for prosperity and stability in Kazakhstan.”
    “In 2011, the U.S. government supported our intent to become Kazakhstan’s permanent partner, by providing financial support in the amount of $ 110 million in all areas beginning from military cooperation to the training of legal employees and from border control to health care,” the ambassador said.
    He said the U.S and Kazakhstan have developed a new five-year plan for cooperation in defense. It will be designed to enhance mutual understanding between the two countries and their ability to work together in the future.
    “We began constructing a new central reference laboratory for the study of biological pathogens, corresponding to the latest scientific developments in the field of nonproliferation,” he added.
    “We have made commitments on the regional training center for nuclear safety in Kazakhstan and stressed the successful completion of the project to decommission the BN-350 reactor.”
    He said that the joint efforts were carried out to ensure security measures at the former Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, Kazinform wrote.