Belgian Foreign Minister praises Kazakhstan's ambitions to chair OSCE

ASTANA, 27th March 2006 - "Kazakhstan is the worthiest and most possible candidate for chairing the OSCE in the Central Asian region." Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht, OSCE Chairman-in-Office, has stated this at a briefing following his meeting with Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Kazakhstan.

"The Central Asian region is very important for the OSCE and Kazakhstan is an important country for us in this region. Kazakhstan has an ambition of chairing the OSCE and we have discussed in detail with the President what the OSCE can signify for Kazakhstan and what Kazakhstan can become for the OSCE," - Mr. De Gucht said.

The OSCE Chairman-in-Office has marked the importance of political reforms in the country. "I hope that the State Commission recently created for these ends will work out a number of important offers that will improve the situation with political reforms in the country in the nearest future," - he said.

"I would also like to mark the climate of tolerance in Kazakhstan while the so called clash of civilisations is observed in the rest of the world. The stability is also very important for this region. Besides, we must acknowledge the economic development of Kazakhstan, diversification of its economy, medium and small business development," - Mr. De Gucht observed.

The OSCE Chairman-in-Office has also said that in May 2006 Belgium and Kazakhstan will hold a conference on economic development. "In the period of our chairmanship we will actively co-operate with Kazakhstan and already in May we will will hold a conference on economic development," - he said.