FOREIGN
RELATIONS
Kazakhstan has stable relationships with all of its neighbors. Kazakhstan is a member of the United Nations, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and North Atlantic Cooperation Council. It also is an active participant in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Partnership for Peace program. Kazakhstan also is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization along with Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan established the Eurasian Economic Community in 2000 to re-energize earlier efforts at harmonizing trade tariffs and the creation of a free trade zone under a customs union. Kazakhstan is the founding member of the Conference for Interaction and Confidence in Asia. Kazakhstan also engages in regional security dialogue with ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations).
U.S.-KAZAKHSTAN
RELATIONS
The United States was the first country to recognize Kazakhstan, on December 25, 1991, and opened its Embassy in Almaty in January 1992. In the years since Kazakhstan's independence, the two countries have developed a wide-ranging bilateral relationship. The current Ambassador is John Ordway, who assumed his post in September 2004. The bilateral relationship has witnessed a surge in activity in recent months, including visits by Vice President Cheney, Secretary of State Rice, Secretary of Energy Bodman, Secretary of Agriculture Johanns, and CENTCOM Commander Abizaid. President Nazarbayev met with President Bush in the White House on September 29, 2006.
U.S.-Kazakhstani cooperation in security and non-proliferation has been a cornerstone of the relationship. Kazakhstan showed leadership when it renounced nuclear weapons in 1993. The United States has assisted Kazakhstan in the removal of nuclear warheads, weapons-grade materials, and their supporting infrastructure. In 1994, Kazakhstan transferred more than a half-ton of weapons-grade uranium to the United States. In 1995 Kazakhstan removed its last nuclear warheads and, with U.S. assistance, completed the sealing of 181 nuclear test tunnels in May 2000. Kazakhstan has signed the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty (1992), the START Treaty (1992), the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (1993), the Chemical Weapons Convention, and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (2001). Under the Cooperative Threat Reduction program, the United States has spent $240 million to assist Kazakhstan in eliminating weapons of mass destruction and weapons of mass destruction-related infrastructure.
Economic
Relations
U.S. foreign direct investment (FDI) was 27% of total FDI in Kazakhstan in 2006. American companies have invested about $11.8 billion in Kazakhstan since 1993. These companies are concentrated in the oil and gas, business services, telecommunications, and electrical energy sectors. Kazakhstan has made progress in creating a favorable investment climate although serious problems, including arbitrary enforcement of laws, remain. A U.S.-Kazakhstan Bilateral Investment Treaty and a Treaty on the Avoidance of Dual Taxation have been in place since 1994 and 1996, respectively. In 2001, Kazakhstan and the United States established the U.S.-Kazakhstan Energy Partnership.
Sections 402 and 409 of the United States 1974 Trade Act require that the President submit semi-annually a report to Congress on continued compliance with the Act's freedom of emigration provisions by those countries, including Kazakhstan, that fall under the Trade Act's Jackson-Vanik Amendment. Bilateral trade in 2005 was valued at $1.64 billion, a 91% increase from 2004.
U.S.
Assistance
Between 1992 and 2005, the United States has provided roughly $1.205 billion in technical assistance and investment support in Kazakhstan. The programs were designed to promote market reform, to establish a foundation for an open, prosperous, and democratic society, and to address security issues.
Since 1993, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has administered technical assistance programs to support Kazakhstan's transition to a market economy, fully integrated into the world trade system. These programs include cooperation in privatization, fiscal, and financial policy; commercial law; energy; health care; and environmental protection. In 2006, Kazakhstan became the first country to share directly in the cost of a U.S. Government’s foreign assistance program. Through 2009, the Government of Kazakhstan will contribute over $15 million to a $40 million USAID economic development project aimed at strengthening Kazakhstan’s capacity to achieve its development goals. The U.S. Commercial Service provides U.S. business internships for Kazakhstanis, supports Kazakhstani businesses through a matchmaker program and disseminates information on U.S. goods and services. Additional information is available on its website: www.buyusa.gov/kazakhstan/en/. The Peace Corps has about 120 volunteers working throughout Kazakhstan in business education, English teaching, and the development of environmental non-governmental organizations. Since 2001 and the advent of the war on terror, the U.S. has assisted Kazakhstan to combat illegal narcotics, improve border security, and, more recently combat money laundering and trafficking in persons.
The United
States supports increased citizen participation in the public
arena through support for non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Dozens of grants have been provided to support NGOs that promote
an independent media, legal reform, women's rights, civic education,
and legislative oversight. USAID also has provided training courses
for leaders and professionals.
Military Cooperation
Kazakhstan's military participates in the U.S.'s International Military Education and Training program, Foreign Military Financing, as well as NATO's Partnership for Peace program. In 2005, U.S. Central Command conducted approximately 45 bilateral, military cooperation events with the Ministry of Defense of Kazakhstan and other agencies, an increase of more than 100% since 2002. Events vary in size and scope, ranging from information exchanges to military exercises.
Environmental Issues
Kazakhstan has identified a number of major ecological problems within its borders--desiccation of the Aral Sea, protection of the fragile Caspian ecosystem, remediation of the Semipalatinsk nuclear testing range, cleanup of the Baykonur launching facility, extremely polluted cities, desertification, and development of mechanisms for regional transboundary water management.
To address the water management problem of the Syr Darya River, Kazakhstan and other basin states, with technical assistance from USAID/Central Asia, established the 1998 Framework Agreement on the Use of Water and Energy Resources of the Syr Darya Basin. Kazakhstan became a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in 1999.
The United States and the European Union worked together with the Ministry of Environmental Protection to establish an independent, nonprofit, and nonpolitical Regional Environmental Center (REC) in Almaty in 2001. The mission of the REC is to strengthen civil society and support sustainable development by promoting public awareness and participation in environmental decision-making among the countries of Central Asia. In 2002, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Embassy, and Ministry of Environmental Protection signed a memorandum of understanding to provide the REC with funding for its grants program.
Principal U.S. Embassy Officials
Ambassador--John M. Ordway
Secretary--Jan van der Zalm
Deputy Chief of Mission--Kevin Milas
Political-Economic Officer--Deborah Mennuti
Public Affairs Officer--Victoria Sloan
Senior Commercial Officer--Stuart Schaag
Management Counselor--Paul Gilmer
Consul--Jeffrey Lodinsky
U.S. Embassy Contact Information
U.S. Embassy Astana (Chancery)
22-23 Str., No.3, Ak Bulak 4.
Astana, Kazakhstan 010000
Tel: 7-(3172) 70-21-00; Fax: 7-(3172) 34-08-90
U.S. Commercial Service / Public Affairs Section
Samal 2, 97 Zholdasbekov St., 11th Floor
Almaty, Kazakhstan 480099
Tel: 7-(3272) 50-49-50; Fax: 7-(3272) 50-49-67, 50-48-74
E-mail: almaty.office.box@mail.doc.gov
