OREANDA-NEWS. April 17, 2014. Foreign Minister Erlan Idrisov and First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Great Britain, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi discussed prospects for further development of bilateral relations and topical international issues in Astana.

Mr. Idrisov and Baroness Warsi stressed the importance of Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation including specialized working groups and the Kazakh-British Trade and Industry Council.

Economic and trade cooperation is an essential element of bilateral cooperation complex between the two countries. According to the Customs Control Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the volume of trade amounted to USD 2.1 billion (export - 1.5 billion, import - 0.6 billion) in 2013. Britain is the third investor in Kazakhstan (after the Netherlands and the United States). According to the National Bank, the total amount of direct British investment in Kazakhstan amounted to USD 10 billion from 2005 to September 2013.

It is expected that the next meeting of the intergovernmental commission will be held in Astana in May as part of the Astana Economic Forum and in October during a traditional Kazakh business forum in London.

During the talks at the Foreign Ministry the parties discussed issues of further improvement of the visa regime and facilitate the procedures for obtaining a British visa for Kazakhstani people, and an agreement related to it had been reached during the visit of David Cameron to Astana.

Mr. Idrisov and Baroness Warsi discussed prospects of cooperation between Kazakhstan and the United Kingdom in the legal sphere. There were talks about Kazakhstani campaign for the elections as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2017-18.

Speaking of the international agenda, Mr. Idrisov and Baroness Warsi discussed issues related to the situation in Ukraine, the Iranian nuclear program and the situation in Afghanistan in the light passing in the country 's presidential elections and the process of withdrawal of the main body of troops of the international coalition until the end of 2014. A mutual interest in resolving the situation in Ukraine through negotiation and diplomacy, including through the timely and effective conduct of negotiations between the EU, Russia, Ukraine and the United States in Geneva on April 17 of the next year; effective continuation of the negotiation process on Iran's nuclear program , as well as the further stabilization of Afghanistan were noted.

Following the talks, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexey Volkov and Baroness Warsi signed bilateral documents on goods transit of the United Kingdom through the territory of Kazakhstan, which are important for the effective withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan.