Astana, June 9, House of the Mazhilis. Today the Chairman of the Mazhilis Nurlan Nigmatulin met with the Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Singapore Halimah Yakob.

As N.Nigmatulin noted during the conversation, Singapore is a key partner of Kazakhstan in the South-East Asia region.

The Mazhilis Speaker stressed that an important role in strengthening bilateral relations was played by the high-level visits and personal relations between the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev and the first Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew.

H.Yakob, in her turn, expressed confidence that the foundations laid by the leaders of the two countries will help continue the development of cooperation between the two countries. The Speaker of the Singapore Parliament also stressed the effectiveness of the Kazakhstan President’s formula, "first the economy, then politics."

N.Nigmatulin noted the symbolic character of the Singapore parliamentary delegation’s official visit to Kazakhstan ahead of the opening of the specialized international exhibition EXPO-2017 in Astana. According to the Mazhilis Speaker, this is the evidence of Singapore's interest in maintaining a high level of Kazakh-Singaporean relations.

"Your country has a special position for us, because we know that Kazakhstan is growing dynamically, and your economy is strong in the Central Asian region," said the Speaker of the Singapore Parliament.

The priority areas of the trade and economic partnership include investment cooperation, cooperation in the sphere of new technologies and innovations.

H.Yacob also expressed interest in signing the Free Trade Agreement between Singapore and the EAEU. According to the Singaporean Speaker, this will serve as an additional platform for the development of cooperation.

N.Nigmatulin informed the Singaporean colleagues about the constitutional reform in Kazakhstan, stressing its focus on development of a more effective management system in the country. At the same time, the Mazhilis Chairman stressed the increased responsibility of the Parliament and the Government while maintaining a strong vertical of presidential power.

The two Speakers expressed interest in strengthening cooperation between the Parliament members of the two countries.

The Mazhilis Speaker believes that expansion of inter-parliamentary relations would allow exchanging law-making experience in the field of public administration, attracting investments, supporting and developing new technologies.

(O. Abramova, 74-68-44, photo by Zh.Kuspanov, distributed by the press service of the Majilis)