Slovenian President to Visit Kazakhstan

Slovenian President Nataša Pirc-Musar is set to visit Astana from March 31 to April 1, Orda.kz reports.

The Aqorda press service announced the visit on the morning of March 26 with a brief statement:

During the visit, negotiations with President Qasym-Jomart Toqayev are planned, at which key issues of bilateral cooperation in trade, economic, investment, transport, and cultural and humanitarian spheres will be discussed. Particular attention will be paid to the development of business ties. A Kazakh-Slovenian business forum will also be held as part of the visit. 

The President of Slovenia’s website provided more details. According to the Slovenian side, this will be the first visit by a Slovenian head of state to Kazakhstan since 2009. In addition to Toqayev, Pirc-Musar is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov and Senate Speaker Maulen Ashimbayev.

The main focus of the talks will be the situation in Ukraine, developments in the Middle East and Afghanistan, as well as EU–Kazakhstan cooperation,her office said. 

Pirc-Musar will be joined by Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon, along with representatives from 26 Slovenian companies set to participate in the business forum.

One of the main goals of the visit is to strengthen economic cooperation, particularly in the fields of pharmaceuticals, information and communication technologies, digitalization, energy, environmental protection, infrastructure, and tourism,the Slovenian president’s press service stated. 

Another highlight of the visit will be the introduction of Slovenia’s "bee diplomacy" initiative — a soft power campaign to promote global awareness of bee protection and beekeeping.

In Kazakhstan, this will take the form of a joint art exhibition by students from Astana and the Slovenian town of Domžale. The works created by Domžale students were personally handed to Pirc-Musar for delivery to their Kazakh peers.

Original Author: Igor Ulitin