For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
December 21, 2001
Joint Statement by President Bush and Kazakhstan President
Joint Statement by President George W. Bush and President Nursultan Nazarbayev on the New Kazakhstan-American Relationship
We declare our commitment to strengthen the long-term, strategic
partnership and cooperation between our nations, seeking to advance a
shared vision of a peaceful, prosperous and sovereign Kazakhstan in the
21st Century that is increasingly integrated into the global economy
and the community of democratic nations. To this end, we
will advance our cooperation on counterterrorism and non-proliferation,
democratic political and free-market economic reform, and market-based
investment and development of energy resources.
These goals further reflect our recognition that the threats of
terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction endanger the
security not only of the United States and Kazakhstan, but of the world
at large. We therefore seek to develop our security
cooperation to address these challenges and foster cooperation among
Kazakhstan, its Central Asian neighbors, the United States, and our
European friends, partners, and allies. In pursuit of these
objectives, we are determined to deepen cooperation bilaterally and
within NATO's Partnership for Peace.
We reiterate our intent to cooperate in the war against terrorism
to its conclusion and within the framework of the international
coalition. We underscore our support for a broad-based
Afghan government at peace internally and with its
neighbors. We also pledge our readiness to cooperate in
Afghanistan's reconstruction.
Recognizing that Kazakhstan was the first country to renounce its
nuclear-weapons status voluntarily, we reaffirm our mutual commitment
to the non-proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction. Both sides agree on the need for urgent
attention to improving the physical protection and accounting of all
nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons materials in all possessor
states, and to preventing illicit trafficking in these
materials. We pledge to expand our cooperation on these
matters under the United States-Kazakhstan Cooperative Threat Reduction
Agreement.
In the spirit of partnership, Kazakhstan and the United States
intend to strengthen joint activity in ensuring security and stability
in Central Asia. We agree that the expansion of trade and
economic ties among the states of Central Asia, and deepening of
regional integration in important areas, such as the environment, water
resources, and transportation systems are a basis for regional
security. The United States will consider enhancing
assistance programs to Kazakhstan to strengthen border security and to
increase the defensive capabilities of the Armed Forces of the Republic
of Kazakhstan.
We recognize that free market economies and the rule of law provide
the most effective means to advance the welfare of our citizens and the
stability of our societies. The United States and Kazakhstan
pledge to advance our bilateral economic, trade, and investment
relations, including through expanded contacts between the business
communities of our countries. We will strive to further
develop an attractive, transparent and predictable investment
climate. Achieving this goal requires removal of legislative
and administrative barriers to investment, strengthening respect for
contracts and the rule of law, reducing corruption, and enhancing
Kazakhstan's strong record on economic reform.
We also intend to cooperate to advance Kazakhstan's integration in
the global economy by supporting Kazakhstan's accession to the World
Trade Organization on the basis of standard and agreed criteria, and
its graduation from the Jackson-Vanik Amendment.
We affirm our desire to strengthen our energy partnership to
diversify export options for Kazakhstan's oil and gas and to diversify
global energy supplies. We share the view that a key element
of this effort is development of multiple pipelines that will ensure
delivery of Caspian energy to world markets, unfettered by monopolies
or constrained by geographic chokepoints. We welcome the
recent opening of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) Pipeline and
underscore our support for development of the Aktau-Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
oil export route on commercial terms. We will also work
together to protect the rights of foreign investors and to abide by
decisions of courts, particularly of international courts of
arbitration.
Recognizing that democracy is a cornerstone of long-term stability,
we reaffirm our desire to strengthen democratic institutions and
processes, such as independent media, local government, pluralism, and
free and fair elections. We also reiterate our mutual
commitments to advance the rule of law and promote freedom of religion
and other universal human rights as promoted by the United Nations and
the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, of which we
are both members. Finally, we pledge to enhance
understanding between the citizens of our two countries by promoting
people-to-people exchanges, initiatives of non-governmental
organizations, and contacts between business people.
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