The Kazakh delegation headed by the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kairat Umarov took part in the 5th UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in Qatar.
The event, which takes place every ten years, this year was attended by more than 3,000 delegates, including heads of state and government, foreign ministers, heads of international organizations, including the UN Secretary General, the global expert community and business circles, as well as scientific and civil communities.
In his speech at the general debate, the head of the Kazakh delegation noted the importance of mobilizing international assistance to the least developed countries in order to achieve sustainable development in accordance with the UN principle – “leave no one behind.” It remains very urgent to avoid a huge number of LDCs falling behind in the accelerating pace of world progress, which is fraught with worsening global issues such as poverty, hunger, climate change, uncontrolled migration and many others.
“As the largest landlocked country, Kazakhstan is well aware of the difficulties and challenges faced by the least developed countries,” Umarov noted.
In this context, the head of the Kazakh delegation presented a model for the successful development of Kazakhstan, which allowed the country to reach the level of an upper-middle income country in 30 years, noted the ongoing economic and political reforms, and expressed Kazakhstan's readiness to share its experience with the least developed countries.
On the sidelines of the Conference, Umarov held bilateral talks with the State Minister for Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar Soltan bin Saad Al-Muraikhi and the Minister of Trade and Industry, Co-Chairman of the Kazakh-Qatari high-level commission Mohammed bin Hamad Al Thani.
The parties noted with satisfaction the significant intensification of bilateral contacts, including at the highest level, between Astana and Doha. Good prospects were noted for the further development of close Kazakh-Qatari cooperation, in particular, in the areas of trade, economic and investment cooperation. In this context, they emphasized the importance of the upcoming meeting of the Kazakh-Qatari high-level joint commission in Doha this year in order to further implement the agreements between the heads of the two states. The Kazakh side reaffirmed the invitation to the delegation of Qatar to take part in the Astana International Forum on June 8-9 this year.
The First Deputy Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan also held a number of meetings with the UN Under-Secretary-General – High Representative on LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS, Rabab Fatima, his counterparts from Bahrain, Vietnam, Portugal, Italy, the Philippines and other countries, during which they discussed the interaction and initiatives of Kazakhstan within international organizations.