Skopje, 13 September 2021 (MIA) – Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani paid a visit to Kazakhstan and held separate meetings with counterpart Mūhtar Tıleuberdı and President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. During the visit, the Minister also opened North Macedonia’s new embassy in Nur-Sultan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release on Monday. Talks focused on potentials for promoting bilateral economic cooperation and especially trade and investment potential. “Bilateral relations establish potential for economic cooperation, an interest of both countries’ governments, businesses and citizens. It’s our responsibility to take action and allow businesses to recognize and use this potential, with the help of all diplomatic capacities,” Osmani said at the signing of the action plan for cooperation between the Foreign Ministries of North Macedonia and Kazakhstan for the period 2021-2023. Aside from the action plan, participants signed at the meeting the protocol for exchange of instruments for the ratification of the agreement between North Macedonia and Kazakhstan for transfer of prisoners. They also discussed enhanced regional cooperation between Southeast Europe and Central Asia and expressed readiness to further promote partnership between Skopje and Nur-Sultan, as potential hub centers for establishing even greater ties between the two regions. Moreover, interlocutors commended cooperation in the field of multilateral relations, and talked about North Macedonia’s upcoming OSCE Chairmanship in 2023. They discussed current challenges, as well as priorities for the upcoming chairmanship, while Osmani’s hosts shared their experience with chairing the organization in 2010. At the meetings, participants also talked about current international challenges, focusing on latest developments in Afghanistan and expressed concern for the current situation in the country, as well as readiness to continue to support Afghan citizens from a humanitarian aspect, as well as efforts to establish a safer and more stable country. Osmani’s trip to Kazakhstan was the first official visit at Foreign Ministry level since bilateral relations were established between the countries. Moreover, the Minister used the opportunity to open North Macedonia’s new embassy in Nur-Sultan. During the opening, Osmani’s hosts expressed interest in opening an embassy in Skopje, as early as next year, as a starting point for realization of more ambitious plans for cooperation.