OREANDA-NEWS. September 15, 2011. Dmitry Medvedev and President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev took part in the VIII Russia-Kazakhstan Interregional Cooperation Forum. The main item on the agenda is the organisation of the two countries’ joint efforts in cross-border emergency situations.

After the forum, Dmitry Medvedev and Nursultan Nazarbayev witnessed the signing of a package of documents. The two leaders also made press statements.

Dmitry Medvedev and Nursultan Nazarbayev held a meeting before the plenary session. They discussed cooperation in priority areas for both countries and exchanged views on integration, particularly on further steps to strengthen and develop the Customs Union between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

The Russia-Kazakhstan Interregional Cooperation Forum has been held alternately in the two countries since a meeting in Omsk in 2003. After that, the forum convened annually in Chelyabinsk, Uralsk, Novosibirsk, Aktyubinsk, Orenburg, and Ust-Kamenogorsk.

Dmitry Medvedev and Nursultan Nazarbayev also visited the new Astrakhan State Opera and Ballet Theatre, built in 2011. The theatre’s chief architect Alexei Denisov conducted a brief tour for the two leaders.