Kazakhstan & The United Kingdom - Strategic Partners by Integrative Media

KAZAKHSTAN & THE UNITED KINGDOM STRATEGIC PARTNERS MARKING 30 YEARS OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS

1992-2022

Published by: The Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the United Kingdom 12 Pall Mall SW1Y 5EA London In partnership with: Integrative Media Ltd 152-160 City Road London EC1V 2NW Design and Production: Paul Cunningham Spruce Creative Grimsby North-East Lincolnshire www.sprucecreative.com Printed by: Cambrian Printers Ltd The Pensord Group Tram Road Pontllanfraith NP12 2YA www.cambrian-printers.co.uk

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Contents

Three decades of close and firm friendship His Excellency Mukhtar Tileuberdi Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Foreword Alan Spence Editor & Honorary Consul for the Republic of Kazakhstan to Hull and the Humber Region of the United Kingdom

Personal reflections on a new strategic partner The Rt Hon Sir John Major KG CH Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1990-1997

Kazakhstan’s first London Embassy: powerful symbolism and practical impetus His Excellency Kanat Saudabayev Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the United Kingdom 1996-1999

UK-Kazakh relations: 30 years of ever closer ties The Rt Hon Jack Straw PC Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 2001-2006

The United Kingdom and Kazakhstan: a flourishing long-term partnership His Excellency Paul Brummell CMG Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Republic of Kazakhstan 2005-2009

President Nazarbayev and Prime Minister David Cameron launch the strategic partnership His Excellency Kairat Abusseitov Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the United Kingdom 2008-2014

UK-Kazakh relations: towards new horizons The Rt Hon Lord Hammond of Runnymede PC Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 2014-2016

Kazakhstan and the United Kingdom: the Strategic Pathway His Excellency Erzhan Kazykhan Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the United Kingdom 2014-2017

Pursuing new levels of strategic partnership His Excellency Kairat Abdrakhmanov Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan 2016-2018

Thirty years of diplomatic relations – and multiple relationships Michael Gifford OBE Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Republic of Kazakhstan 2018-2021

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UK-Kazakh relations: seizing future opportunities Her Excellency Kathy Leach Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Republic of Kazakhstan since August 2021

109 Thirty Years of Steppe Diplomacy His Excellency Erlan Idrissov Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the United Kingdom since February 2017

HIS EXCELLENCY MUKHTAR TILEUBERDI

Three decades of close and firm friendship His Excellency Mukhtar Tileuberdi Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan

The United Kingdom was one of the first countries to establish formal diplomatic relations with the Republic of Kazakhstan following the declaration of its Independence on 16 December 1991, and during the last three decades the two countries have evolved a close and firm friendship – the core element in an increasingly important long-term strategic relationship. It is, therefore, a great honour for me to introduce this remarkable collection of essays by current and former political and diplomatic leaders from both countries marking the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Kazakhstan and the UK. This milestone comes at a time of significant change for both countries as President Tokayev continues to roll-out major political, economic and social reforms, and the UK pursues its new global vision. During the last three decades Kazakhstan, still a very young nation by any measurement, has made great progress politically, economically, socially and culturally, whilst tenaciously pursuing its vision of becoming one of the 30 most-developed countries in the world by 2050. However, although its aspirational destination is set, and much has already been put in place to fuel the journey, President Tokayev, who became President in 2019, has enacted a series of far-reaching, inter-related reforms designed to ensure Kazakhstan maintains the necessary pace and quality of change to attain its over-riding development objectives by the middle of the 21st Century. To date, much of President Tokayev’s time in office so far has over-lapped with the country’s crisis response to the Covid-19 pandemic, including protecting citizens with

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lockdowns, massive support for jobs and businesses and the development of Kazakhstan’s own vaccine – QazVac. However, such is the impetus of the reform programme that much has, nevertheless, still been set in place, including a National Council of Public Trust (NCPT) headed up by the President. This fundamentally important innovation is designed to promote constructive dialogue, consensus and trust between the government and the public across the entire arc of state activities to assist successful implementation of the reform programme. Moreover, amongst the many new measures already introduced are new laws on peaceful assemblies with the previous principle of requesting permission to hold such events replaced by a notification by the organisers of their lawful intention to do so; minimum 30 per cent quotas for women and youth representatives on electoral lists and the strengthening of the office of the Human Rights Ombudsman, including the creation of regional offices. Further initiatives of the President were announced in his recent State of the Nation Address to the people of Kazakhstan. The reforms include increasing the efficiency of the healthcare system, providing quality education, improving regional policy, creating an effective ecosystem in the labour market, political modernisation, protecting human rights and consolidating society. Undoubtedly, many aspects of President Tokayev’s reform programme will provide future opportunities for collaboration between Kazakhstan and the UK, especially in the business, finance and legal sectors, as part of our powerful relationship. This not only yields great mutual bilateral benefits, but is increasingly valuable as a strong strategic platform for multilateral engagement on global issues of paramount concern. These include confronting international terrorism and helping to build co-ordinated and sustainable international policies to address climate change, and bolster food, energy, water, and nuclear security. Indeed, nuclear security was the first substantive area of co-operation between Kazakhstan and the UK when, with the United States and Russia, the UK played a crucial role in facilitating the removal of Kazakhstan’s nuclear weapons and the subsequent

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measures to clean-up the former Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, paving the way for the country’s nuclear disarmament and signature of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). More specifically within the context of Kazakh-UK relations, it was emblematic of a rapidly building friendship between two countries based on a common fundamental belief in peace and prosperity – something which had become increasingly apparent to both sides from 1989 onwards when Sir John Major, then Foreign Secretary, had his first meeting with Nursultan Nazarbayev, soon to become Kazakhstan’s First President. Kazakhstan and the UK both subscribe to the principles of the international order rooted in the Charter of the United Nations, the Helsinki Final Act, the structures and regulations of international financial institutions from the IMF and the World Bank to regional development banks, and, amongst other international agreements and practices, the sanctity of the law of contract, especially in relation to conducting financial, commercial and investment affairs. Kazakhstan became the first country in Central Asia to adopt the Common Law of England and Wales as the legal modus operandi of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), which opened in 2018 as a financial services hub to serve the Eurasian region and eventually integrate into the network of major international financial service hubs worldwide. Kazakhstan and the UK had little by way of shared history, other than the role played by Kazakhstan’s east-west Silk Route facilitating trade between China and the West, including raw silk exports to the silk mills of north-west England. Simply put, unlike in today’s globally interdependent and connected world, there was no direct strategic or commercial imperative to build a relationship, especially as the UK’s historic foreign interests tended to be framed by the proximity of the sea – and Kazakhstan is the largest landlocked region in the world! That said, a small band of intrepid British explorers and adventurers travelled widely in the mid- to late 19th century across the Steppes, recording its vastness and beauty in sketches and paintings – amongst them the redoubtable Thomas and Lucy Atkinson, the latter giving birth to a child en route. The early years of relationship between the two countries were characterised by a close

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focus on Kazakhstan’s energy and other primary resource industries, and this remains a key element of economic ties. However, in line with Kazakhstan’s steadily unfolding plans to broaden, deepen and diversify its economy underpinned by a multi-vector foreign policy, the country’s relationship with the UK has matured into a more holistic relationship embracing all aspects of economic, social and diplomatic engagement. Before the pandemic, in 2019, the total value of trade between the two countries reached £2.5 billion and the outward stock of foreign direct investment (FDI) from the UK in Kazakhstan was £176 million. Not surprisingly, Kazakhstan has been one of the top six fastest-growing markets for UK exports of goods and services, expanding by 131.8 per cent between 2010 and 2019. Over 800 UK companies are registered in Kazakhstan, partly reflecting the AIFC’s remarkably innovative adoption of England and Wales Common Law, applied and administered by a panel of UK judges, whilst BAE Systems, Shell, and Ernst and Young are members of the Foreign Investors’ Council chaired by President Tokayev. Aside from the involvement of the UK’s legal establishment in the operation of the AIFC, the creation of this ambitious institution was assisted in no small part by the involvement of other exchanges and financial experts around the world, including from the City of London and its iconic London Stock Exchange. The AIFC and London have also been drawn closer together by Kazakhstan’s ongoing policy of reducing the level of the state participation in the economy. The main driver here is the privatisation of the country’s industrial holding companies owned in the main by the country’s Sovereign Wealth Fund, Samruk Kazyna. In addition to technical advice on preparing companies for sale to private investors and the overall processes and procedures involved, the London Stock Exchange has also, itself, played a direct role in the programme co-listing with the AIFC in 2018 25 per cent of the shares in the world’s leading uranium producer Kazatomprom. Major opportunities for further collaboration in this area look set to emerge as postpandemic economic growth steadily creates more favourable conditions for future privatisations. Education is another area of successful collaboration between the two countries with

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the UK ranked as the most popular destination for Kazakh students supported by the country’s Bolashak scholarship programme which seeks to help create new cohorts of future leaders in industry, finance, health, education, public administration and other vital sectors of Kazakh society. Co-operation in education also includes close academic ties between leading academic institutions in the UK, such as the London School of Economics and the University of Cambridge with their respective Kazakh counterparts the Kazakh-British Technical University and Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools. By 2014 the closeness of the two countries was deemed sufficiently important to create the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation and Strategic Dialogue involving meetings between foreign officials from both sides. The success of this arrangement in furthering collaboration steadily elevated its importance to Foreign Minister level and, given the subsequent creation of other bilateral mechanisms, including the Business Council, a new Strategic Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (SPCA) brought together all these different platforms in 2021. Crucially both Kazakhstan and the United Kingdom are closely aligned in their pursuit of policies designed to address climate change. President Tokayev has set a target date of 2060 for Kazakhstan to become net carbon neutral and at the recent COP26 Summit in Glasgow Prime Minister Askar Mamin outlined additional targets, including phasing out coal usage by 2050 and renewable energy accounting for 15 per cent of supply by 2030 and 50 per cent by 2050. For a country whose wealth depends so importantly on the extractive energy sector, this is no easy challenge, but meeting it is not only vital to Kazakhstan but also to helping to combat the climate change crisis globally. Moreover, we also view the pursuit of green energy-based sustainable growth as a source of many new business opportunities to be mobilised and exploited with our international business partners, including of course, in the UK. Regarding other areas of heighted mutual interest, these are likely to include space and communications, particularly given the UK’s harnessing of low-orbit satellite technology and the opportunities offered by Baikonur Cosmodrome, as well as Kazakhstan’s drive to revolutionise its communications and IT networks as one of the key prerequisites in

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pursuing its long-term goals of becoming one of the world’s top 30 developed countries by 2050. Education and human capital development also look set to play a much more important role still in line with President Tokayev’s prioritisation of these areas as part of Kazakhstan’s long term development plans – as do financial services and healthcare, in addition to previously mentioned green energy and environmental initiatives, Both Kazakhstan and the UK are facing periods of change and challenge. Like most countries around the world, they have to build back their economies after the pandemic, and undoubtedly, this will also include working together to develop ways in which they, with others, can confront future pandemics and other public health emergencies. Finally, I would like to thank all those from both countries who have generously recorded their immensely valuable thoughts and recollections within these pages which, taken together, not only provide great historical insight into remarkable events in which they participated, but stand as testimony to what two countries can incrementally achieve through genuine and firm friendship.

His Excellency Mukhtar Tileuberdi was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in September 2019, having previously served as First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2016. His earlier roles in a long diplomatic career include Ambassador to Malaysia, concurrently with accreditation to Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines, and Ambassador to Switzerland concurrently with accreditation to Leichtenstein and the Vatican, and also serving as Kazakhstan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office and other international organisations in Geneva.

ALAN SPENCE

Foreword Alan Spence Editor & Honorary Consul for the Republic of Kazakhstan to Hull and the Humber Region of the United Kingdom

It is an honour to act as editor of Kazakhstan and the United Kingdom: Strategic Partners – Marking 30 Years of Diplomatic Relations – especially so since for over two decades I have had the great privilege, as a writer and publisher, to witness at first hand Kazakhstan and the UK evolve ever-closer ties. From an initial trade and investment relationship, focused around oil and gas, these have morphed into a multi-faceted strategic partnership of breadth and depth – which looks set to become ever stronger. As editor, I would like to thank all those from both Kazakhstan and the United Kingdom who have contributed accounts and memories of their own experiences as Ambassadors or Foreign Ministers, as well as reflections on the entire arc of the two countries’ achievements during three decades of positive diplomacy and friendship. This is, indeed, an immensely special compilation of essays by politicians and diplomats who have played a major role in helping to shape and manage relations between Kazakhstan and the United Kingdom – and in some cases actively continue to do so. Reading through all the different contributions it is difficult not to be struck by a genuine sense of friendship and warmth which has played such an important role in evolving relations between the two countries. Yes, as Britain’s Nineteenth Century Prime Minister Lord Palmerston famously remarked about British foreign policy in his day, international relationships are driven by interests – but not, as he saw it, only by interests. The Kazakh-UK relationship is a case in point. Both sides wish to maximise their trade, investment and other economic and business benefits from their strategic partnership, but the latter increasingly transcends the cog-and-sprocket mechanics of interest-based collaboration. 13

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There is a genuine desire on the Kazakh side to see the adventure that is Global Britain work for Britain per se and, conversely, there is a genuine UK desire for Kazakhstan to succeed in its economic and societal objectives for Kazakhstan per se. But, more importantly still, both sides want to successfully work together to help the world address major global problems – most critically climate change and nuclear proliferation, but not forgetting potential threats to peace in central Asia, the Middle East and elsewhere. Such ambitions are potentially well-founded. In three short decades Kazakhstan’s multi-vector foreign policy has won the country friends and allies north, south, east and west – including close relations with all the world’s most powerful countries, including the US, China, Russia and the European Union. Moreover, although a secular country respectful of all faiths, it possesses a pre-dominantly Muslim population which has helped Kazakhstan build strong relationships with Muslim countries. And add to all of this its logistical connectivity at the heart of Eurasia, in particular its hosting of a 3000 kilometer strategic land corridor on the east-west New Silk Route linking China with Europe. For its part, the UK is a place where many worlds intersect – of commerce, trade, finance; of law and judicial process; of international diplomacy; of Commonwealth relations… and much more. Taken together the two countries’ joint diplomatic reach and wiring is not only globally huge, but harbours enviable complementarity. Leveraged to effect on the world diplomatic stage it could make a major contribution to international security, peace and prosperity in coming decades. As these essays attest, the last 30 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries have yielded much and the next 30 years to the mid-21st Century milestone look set to yield much more, not only for Kazakhstan and the UK themselves, but also for the global community.

Alan Spence London, December 2021

THE RT HON SIR JOHN MAJOR KG CH

Personal reflections on a new strategic partner The Rt Hon Sir John Major KG CH Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1990-1997

I am delighted to have this opportunity to share some of my memories of Kazakhstan’s emergence as a Sovereign State in the early 1990s. Over the past three decades, as Kazakhstan has made its mark on the international arena, we have become close and productive partners. I am proud of the role the UK Government has played in helping to build a solid foundation for UK-Kazakh bilateral relations, on which future administrations can build. When I became Prime Minister in November 1990, it never occurred to me that Kazakhstan would evolve as a friend and partner of my country, but world history often evolves in the most unexpected of ways. The tumultuous events of 1991, which few could have foreseen, saw Mikhail Gorbachev’s efforts to reform and modernise the Soviet Union result in its formal dissolution. For the UK – as for all Western countries – this brought a range of very serious concerns relating to international security to the forefront of policy, most obviously how to ensure reliable control over the entirety of the Soviet Union’s nuclear arsenal. We also realised, from the outset, that new opportunities would emerge as well – specifically, to forge partnerships with the newly-independent States that would replace the USSR. These new States would need Western support in their transition towards democracy and market economies, and would also need partners to work with them to tackle the wide range of issues that any new State would inevitably face – most notably the economy, security and the establishment of good governance.

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When Kazakhstan achieved independence at the end of 1991, the country inherited a particularly complicated set of challenges. Almost overnight, it took possession of the world’s fourth largest nuclear arsenal, due to the Soviet military facilities being located on its territory. There were other challenges, too. The Kazakh Government was also required – simultaneously – to begin forging a new, unifying sense of national identity among its populations (at a time when ethnic Kazakhs constituted a minority within the country). Kazakhstan had to build, essentially from scratch, a national economy free from the constraints of Soviet-era State planning. It also had to deal with the grave legacy of environmental damage bequeathed by the Soviet system (most notably in the form of the Aral Sea disaster and the Semipalatinsk nuclear testing site). In addition to all this, its geographic location made Kazakhstan vulnerable to a range of regional security threats, including any instability emanating from neighbours in the region, such as Afghanistan. Against this background, the UK Government was glad to be among the first in the West to grasp the importance of Kazakhstan’s situation, by offering support and laying the foundations for future co-operation. In October 1991, I was delighted that President Nursultan Nazarbayev accepted my invitation to make his first-ever visit to London, and to hold talks with me at 10 Downing Street. At the time, Kazakhstan was still formally part of the Soviet Union, so in terms of State protocol this represented a notable departure from the UK’s normal practice concerning visits by overseas Leaders. However, it was already clear to us that, irrespective of the Soviet Union’s future, both Kazakhstan and its President were going to play an increasingly significant role on the global stage. It was therefore important to me that the UK should take the initiative in building our relationship with Kazakhstan and its Leader. During my first encounter with President Nazarbayev, I remember being struck by the sheer scale of the challenges that he faced, as Kazakhstan contemplated its future as an independent country.

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But I also recall how impressed I was by the President’s clear and long-term strategic vision of how to meet these challenges. His emphasis on the need to ensure a peaceful and mutually-agreed solution to the question of the nuclear weapons located on Kazakh soil, underlined his credentials as a responsible and visionary Statesman. After the break-up of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991, I was keen for the UK to build upon our relationship, and consolidate our position as an ally and close friend of the newly-independent Kazakhstan. Accordingly, in mid-January 1992, Douglas Hurd, the Foreign Secretary, became the first senior Western politician to visit Kazakhstan in the post-Soviet era. During his visit to Kazakhstan’s then capital city, Almaty, he held talks with President Nazarbayev, and formally established diplomatic relations between our two countries. The UK opened our Embassy in Kazakhstan later that year. In March 1994, President Nazarbayev again accepted my invitation to visit London. This time, he was no longer the Leader of a Soviet Republic, but Head of State of an established independent nation. He and I held one-to-one discussions in Downing Street – not only on Kazakhstan’s progress in consolidating her independence, but also on regional matters, including the political turbulence taking place in Russia. Once again, I was greatly impressed by the President’s clear and strategic view. This visit marked a key milestone in the development of our bilateral relationship, cemented by the Audience granted to President Nazarbayev during his stay by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. By this stage, the UK’s trade and investment relationship with Kazakhstan was already developing rapidly. Its principal focus was on the energy and raw materials sectors, but also – increasingly – on banking and legal services. In all these areas, both our countries had mutual interests. From the outset of the country’s history as an independent nation, Kazakhstan has consistently demonstrated a commendable readiness to welcome foreign investors, and work with them to develop the Kazakh economy. This co-operation with investors helped greatly to promote Kazakhstan’s integration into the global trading system. I’m delighted that the foundations for close commercial ties, laid during these early

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years of our bilateral relationship, have proved so durable over subsequent decades. Today, the UK is one of Kazakhstan’s principal trading partners, with cumulative UK foreign direct investments in Kazakhstan totalling well over $25 billion since 1991. Our relationship has, by common consent, been mutually beneficial. It has helped promote economic growth and job-creation within Kazakhstan, whilst generating profits for UK firms, and valuable tax revenues for the Kazakh budget. During his 1994 visit, the President presented me with Kazakhstan’s instrument of ratification of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (in view of the UK’s role as one of the depositaries for that Treaty). This was a hugely important step – both symbolically and substantively – in confirming Kazakhstan’s status as a non-nuclear weapons State. It paved the way for the UK – together with the US and Russia – to offer Kazakhstan nuclear security assurances in the Budapest Memorandum, which I was pleased to sign with Presidents Yeltsin, Clinton and Nazarbayev in December 1994. The conclusion of this document marked the culmination of the process with which Kazakhstan voluntarily gave up its Soviet-era nuclear arsenal. With the passage of time, it is easy to overlook the strategic magnitude of this particular decision by the Kazakh authorities. But, in an era when a number of other States were seeking (sometimes successfully) to covertly develop nuclear weapons programmes of their own, Kazakhstan – together with Belarus and Ukraine – elected instead to embark on peaceful and voluntary nuclear disarmament. History will commend these decisions, and look upon them with approbation. Clearly, for many reasons – most especially the geo-politically complicated environment within which Kazakhstan is located – this was a complex and brave decision. But in adopting it, and seeing its implementation through to a successful conclusion, Kazakhstan – and President Nazarbayev personally – contributed significantly to making the world a safer place. Through the intervening years, I have continued to follow – with great admiration – Kazakhstan’s consistent championing of the policy of nuclear non-proliferation and, in particular, its valuable efforts in supporting multilateral negotiations aimed at peacefully resolving the Iranian nuclear issue. Given the essential contribution that President Nazarbayev made to world peace at

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the conclusion of the Cold War, I was delighted that he was able to join me once again in London – in May 1995 – for the commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the end of the Second World War. It was fitting that Kazakhstan was represented by its Head of State on this occasion, given the enormous sacrifices which Kazakhstan’s population made in support of the Allies’ victory over Nazism. As part of our common past, this will never be forgotten. By the time I left Government in 1997, Kazakhstan had made great progress towards freeing itself from the legacy of Soviet rule, and establishing itself as an independent nation. Since that time, Kazakhstan’s international reputation has been enhanced yet further by its successful Chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 2010; its service as a non-permanent member of the United Nation Security Council in 2017-18; and its valuable contribution to the promotion of interfaith dialogue and tolerance across Europe and Asia. These are all marks of a nation contributing significantly to peaceful and friendly international relations. I believe there is much for Kazakhstan to be proud of as it celebrates its 30th Anniversary of Independence. On a purely bilateral level, the UK-Kazakhstan relationship has stood the test of time, and flourished into a genuine strategic partnership, built on the foundations that President Nursultan Nazarbayev and I began to put in place thirty years ago. That partnership must now confront the challenges of the next 30 years. Kazakhstan needs – as do we all in the modern world – to intensify its preparations for a zero-carbon future, with even greater emphasis on economic diversification and reducing the country’s reliance on raw material exports. The country will also need to continue to make progress in developing civil society, and in consolidating the Rule of Law (as Kazakhstan is already doing, for example, through the application of English Law in the Astana International Financial Centre). I am pleased to note President Tokayev’s stated commitment to addressing these issues through a programme of far-reaching reforms, and am confident that the present UK Government – as a firm and genuine friend of Kazakhstan – will stand ready to support

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Kazakhstan in these endeavours. Kazakhstan has come a long way over the past thirty years: from being a little known part of the former Soviet Empire, to establishing itself as a responsible, respected and leading member of the global community of nations. I am so glad to have been able to play my own part in supporting this considerable achievement, and – thirty years on – to have this opportunity to communicate my personal reflections on such an important anniversary for Kazakhstan. I do so with every possible good wish to my Kazakh friends – both past and present – together with my hope and expectation that Kazakhstan will continue to prosper and grow as it looks towards the future.

The Rt Hon Sir John Major KG CH was Prime Minister between 1990-1997, having previously served as Foreign Secretary in 1989 and Chancellor of the Exchequer between 1989-1990.

HIS EXCELLENCY KANAT SAUDABAYEV

Kazakhstan’s first London Embassy: powerful symbolism and practical impetus His Excellency Kanat Saudabayev Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the United Kingdom 1996-1999

It was a great honour and privilege to be Ambassador to the UK at an historic moment in the early years of my country’s Independence – the official opening in June 1997 of Kazakhstan’s first embassy in London by President Nazarbayev at 33 Thurloe Square, opposite the iconic Victoria and Albert Museum in the heart of London. Formally setting down its own diplomatic base in one of the world’s leading capital cities as part of its new and exciting story was a great source of pride for my country, and gave powerful symbolic and practical impetus to Kazakhstan’s efforts to build an evercloser relationship with the UK. At the opening event, amidst warmth and informality, President Nazarbayev explained to assembled guests how Kazakhstan, as a young, resource-rich country, had successfully overcome the severe economic crises of its first years of Independence, and called for mutually beneficial cooperation and partnership with the UK, particularly in the fields of investment and technology. In turn, leading UK speakers representing government, industry, commerce and finance welcomed the President’s invitation to step up engagement at all levels. Clearly the President had given a powerful start to subsequent efforts by the Embassy to attract UK investment and technology to Kazakhstan, to form a positive perception of our country and to expand the circle of its friends in the UK. As the event drew to a close and the last guests departed, I very much sensed that Kazakhstan and the UK were on the cusp of building an ever-closer strategic relationship which would ultimately stand the tests and tribulations of time. 21

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Another important event in the Kazakh-UK relations during my period as Ambassador was the visit to London of then Minister of Foreign Affairs Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, now, of course, President of Kazakhstan. In talks with political leaders and senior government department officials, the Minister of Foreign Affairs confirmed Kazakhstan’s readiness to further expand and deepen trade and economic cooperation which, by that time, was rapidly unfolding, especially between UK energy companies and Kazakhstan in the Caspian Sea oil and gas fields. Moreover, during the Minister’s visit the UK government re-affirmed its commitment to Kazakhstan’s independence and territorial integrity in line with the Budapest Memorandum signed in late 1994 with the UK, Russia and the US, and confirmed its continuing support for Kazakhstan’s democratic and economic reforms. Afterwards, Mr. Tokayev gave an informative press conference for the UK media at the Embassy with the BBC and the Financial Times, amongst others, requesting exclusive interviews His detailed and considered responses to all questions helped build positive perceptions of Kazakhstan in political and economic circles, and further strengthen the image of our country as a worthy and reliable partner of the UK. One key aspect of the Embassy’s work was hosting annual investment conferences with the participation of government officials and business representatives from both countries providing the opportunity for building business networks and bilateral negotiations. For me, one memorable set of negotiations took place in 1997 when Nurlan Kapparov, the 27-year-old Chief Executive of the national oil transportation company KazTransoil and the national oil and gas company KazakhOil, held challenging talks with the formidable Chief Executive of British Petroleum, John Browne, subsequently Lord John Browne. My concern, not unnaturally, was that the two parties were unevenly matched in experience. However, to everyone’s satisfaction and my personal joy, the difficult negotiations ended successfully, in no small way due to the knowledge and skills of Nurlan Kapparov.

HIS EXCELLENCY KANAT SAUDABAYEV

After the BP negotiations, Lord Browne told me that if all President Nazarbayev’s younglings were like Nurlan Kapparov, Kazakhstan would have a bright future! Nurlan Kapparov did, indeed, have a bright future, holding important ministerial roles in energy and the environment sectors before becoming the Chairman of Kazatomprom. But, sadly, it was cut short by his untimely death from a heart attack in March 2015, aged only 44, during a business trip to China. As Ambassador I was also keen to bolster ties between the UK and Kazakh parliaments. Indeed, a Friends of Kazakhstan Group was created in the House of Commons and, subsequently, a Kazakh parliamentary delegation led by Chairman of the Kazakh Senate Omirbek Baigeldy accepted an invitation to London as guests of the Houses of Parliament. Not only did this lead to valuable exchanges boosting mutual understanding of both countries’ legislative systems and processes, but was a foundation stone of ever-closer relations between the two countries’ Parliaments in the years ahead. We also established good working relationships with a number of public policy think tanks, including, amongst them, the Royal Institute of International Affairs or Chatham House. It was here that we regularly held various conferences and roundtables with the participation of government ministers and officials, members of parliament, industrialists, financiers, scientists and others from both countries. Such events significantly expanded UK leaders’ knowledge about Kazakhstan, increasing interest in the country and promoting partnership opportunities with Kazakhstan. We also hosted a number of performances by Kazakh artists in London, including a solo concert by our outstanding, Almaty-born, world-renowned pianist and music professor Jania Aubakirova, who became Rector of the Kazakh National Conservatory in 1997. Elsewhere, it was a great honour and a special privilege for me, not only as Ambassador, but also as a citizen of the Republic of Kazakhstan, to donate samples of the Tenge, the currency of the independent Kazakh state, to the world-famous British Museum on behalf of President Nazarbayev.

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The Director of the British Museum accepted our gift with gratitude and then invited me to view a unique collection of coins of all times and peoples. A special surprise for me amongst them was the ancient coin of Dulati dating back many centuries to the time when the Dulati tribe was a major force in its own right in the east and south of Kazakhstan. I jokingly said that this coin rightfully belongs to the Kazakhs, including myself who, born in Almaty, was a direct Dulati descendant…. However, I added that in gratitude to the British Museum for preserving it for the world, I would leave it with them for future storage! Finally, this account of my time as Ambassador to the UK would not be complete without the following reflections. Sometimes, amazing events happen in life beyond one’s wildest dreams. Such was the day I presented my credentials as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Queen Elizabeth II – the 21 February 1997. The first time I heard about Her Majesty was in 1953 from my teacher Nikolai Andreevich Tarasov when I was a first-grade student. He had served as a sailor on the Yakov Sverdlov, a famous Soviet-era naval destroyer which had seen much action in both World Wars and, as such, he was a participant in the historic procession at the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. As Her Majesty received this story with such warmth and interest, I was prompted to tell her another Kazakh anecdote about the first meeting of Winston Churchill with a Kazakh in March 1947 – our great scientist, Kanysh Satpayev, who happened to be very tall. Asked by Churchill if all Kazakhs were so tall, he replied that he was probably the smallest! My lyrical digressions from the rigid format of the credentials ceremony, meant I had over-shot the time frame of protocol. This was confirmed by Her Majesty’s Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps – an Admiral of the Royal Navy, who nonetheless, smilingly congratulated me on a good start and wished me success in my work! Almost three years of my life and work flew by in the wonderful country that is the United Kingdom – a time I recall with great warmth. On the evening of 12 October 1999, President Nazarbayev, called me and said that

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Foreign Minister Kassym-Jomart Tokayev had been confirmed as the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, and they wanted to appoint me as the head of the Prime Minister’s office. Of course, I gratefully accepted this offer and the next day I said goodbye to London, and flew home to Astana.

His Excellency Kanat Saudabayev was the Republic of Kazakhstan’s first Ambassador to Turkey in the first half of the 1990s, later serving as Ambassador to the United Kingdom between 1996 and 1999. After a period as Head of the Prime Minister’s Office, he became Ambassador to the United States in 2001 – a post he held until 2007. He served twice as Foreign Minister - in 1994 and later in 2009-2011 – and as Kazakhstan State Secretary from 2007 to 2012.

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UK-Kazakh relations: 30 years of ever closer ties The Rt Hon Jack Straw PC Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 2001-2006

When the Soviet Union collapsed during the turbulent years of 1989-92, there was no rule of history which suggested that the 14 new states which emerged would have a rosy future, in which their populations would enjoy stability, security, political freedoms and rising living standards. Quite a number did not. Some still face a difficult future. Kazakhstan stands out from the list. Under the leadership of its First President, Nursultan Nazarbayev, this nation really has prospered during the first three decades of its independence from the Soviet Union, and before that, the old Tsarist Russian Empire. It has made its mark domestically, with adjoining countries, and internationally. Kazakhstan is singular in many ways. It is enormous in geographical size, the world’s largest landlocked country, but with a relatively small population of 19 million, and has two potentially overpowering neighbours – Russia to its north, with 145 million people, seven times Kazakhstan’s size, and China to its east, with 1.4 billion people, seventy times its size. Moreover, both China and Russia are, in defence terms, amongst the world’s superpowers. It would have been easy for the newly emerging independent Kazakhstan to have been pushed by one or other of these countries into a degree of subordination. However, thanks to the skills of its leadership, Kazakhstan has succeeded in becoming the client of no one state, and on good terms with almost all states – not least its very large neighbours. At independence Kazakhstan was home to an enormous nuclear weapons’ arsenal, with 1,410 Soviet strategic nuclear warheads, and an undisclosed number of tactical

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weapons on its territory. Also, one of the Soviet Union’s two major nuclear test sites was located at Semipalatinsk, where at least 460 nuclear tests had taken place. Some leaders might have been tempted to take over such extraordinary worldthreatening power. Kazakhstan’s leaders did the opposite and renounced nuclear weapons. The test site was closed in 1991 and all its Soviet-era weapons were transferred to the Russian Federation by 1995. As part of the US-led ‘Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Programme’, 1,322 lbs of Highly Enriched Uranium were removed from the Ulba plant; bore holes and tunnels were sealed, and other safety measures taken. Kazakhstan signed up to a number of key international instruments on nuclear weapons, including the ratification of the Convention on Nuclear Safety – the only former Soviet Central Asian nation to do so. Under its then Prime Minister John Major the United Kingdom was swift to establish formal diplomatic relations with Kazakhstan, doing so in mid-January 1992, less than a month after Kazakhstan’s formal declaration of independence in December 1991. The UK’s embassy itself was opened eight months later, in October 1992; and, understandably, given the immense pressures on Kazakhstan’s new government, Kazakhstan opened a London embassy a few years later. Since then, diplomatic relations between the two countries have deepened and strengthened, aided by the appointment to London of very senior members of the Kazakh foreign service, including Erzhan Kazykhan, now President Tokayev’s Special Representative for International Cooperation, and the redoubtable Erlan Idrissov, who served for two terms as Foreign Minister, and is now on his second term as Ambassador to the Court of St James. Erlan is in his tenth year in aggregate in London, and is a major figure on the London diplomatic scene. In parallel with ever-closer relations between the two countries at political and diplomatic level, there has been a considerable strengthening of economic ties. The UK is one of the largest investors in the country, with accrued aggregate holdings of $25 billion since 1991, much of it in professional, scientific and technical industries, along with insurance and financial services, and mining. Mutual trade in 2019 was $3.2 billion.

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Kazakhstan has been a ground-breaker with the establishment of the Astana International Financial Centre, with its own court, and specially-appointed judges (all foreign nationals at the time of writing), to arbitrate on relevant disputes using a fasttrack procedure outside the national court system, and following the principle of English Law – very flattering for English lawyers (me included!). My first trip to Astana, now Nur-Sultan, the country’s capital, was in 2004. Of all the scores of international visits I made as UK Foreign Secretary, it was one of the most memorable. Partly, as my wife and I recently commented, because it was the coldest place we had ever encountered; but that was completely offset by the warmth of the reception we received, including a lengthy meeting with President Nazarbayev. International terrorism by its very nature is no respecter of national boundaries. Fanatics will perpetrate their evil wherever they can. Neither the UK, nor Kazakhstan has been immune from this scourge. In the UK, I was the first UK Home Secretary to introduce legislation aimed specifically at international (rather than Irish) terrorism, and then banned 21 terrorist organisations from operating or campaigning under apparently innocent fronts. Kazakhstan has taken a similar approach and thanks to this and the effectiveness of its counter-terrorist operations, the nation is now one of the safest in the world, ranking 94th of 130 countries in 2016 in the Global Terrorism index (by which the higher the ranking, the safer is the country). On that first visit to the country, Nur-Sultan was ‘work in progress’. Many parts had been completed, but there were building sites all around, as one would expect with a new capital. When I went back a decade or so later, I was struck by the astonishing progress made in the city. It now not only looked like a fine capital, but also felt like one as well, with a real buzz about the place. Much of this is down to an effective governmental system. One of its striking aspects has been the development of a cadre of bright, well-educated, and polyglot officials of both sexes to fill senior positions in its public administration. There has been criticism in some quarters about Kazakhstan’s progress on human rights, and on becoming a fully-fledged democracy.

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But this criticism does not take account of Kazakhstan’s history, its geographical position, nor the fact that it has had just thirty years to create its institutions, from a legacy not just of the old Soviet Union, but of the Russian Empire before. In both these old empires, the notion of anything approaching a western-style democracy was anathema to those in power. I was strongly in favour of the UK remaining in the EU, but one price I, and my colleagues, had to pay was hours, sometimes days, of tedium in stuffy rooms! However, to cope with my boredom, I used to reflect on two things; first that, in Churchill’s words, it was ‘always better to jaw-jaw than to war-war’. Second, that amongst even the EU members from the west of Europe, the UK was unusual, not to say unique, that it had not experienced revolution, military occupation, authoritarianism and the destruction of all or any of its previous democratic institutions within the previous century; in many cases within the living memory of those around the table. When I was a student leader in the late 1960s and early 1970s we organised travel boycotts to Spain, Portugal, and Greece, because each was run by fascist dictatorships. As for the newer members of the EU from the east of Europe which became members in 2004 or later, none of them had anything approaching democratic institutions before the demolition of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and the collapse of Soviet hegemony over these Warsaw Pact countries which followed. Even today, some of these nations would appear to subscribe to the EU’s key democratic principles more on paper than they do in day-to-day practice. Yes, the UK is something of an exception. But the UK also makes my point. England had an intensely violent civil war in the mid-Seventeenth Century. That was followed by a Constitutional Settlement in 1689 – the Bill of Rights – which still forms a key text of our so-called ‘unwritten constitution’. Despite that, it was not until the Nineteenth Century that the franchise began to be extended beyond men with property rights; and it was not until 1948 that the principle of one person (male or female) one vote was fully enshrined in law. The development of institutions takes a long time, with many bumps on the road. In February 2005 Condoleezza Rice was on her first major overseas visit having been confirmed by the US Senate as Secretary of State. At a joint press conference which I

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hosted in the London Foreign Office we were each asked about the allegedly slow progress towards democratic government in Iraq (just two years after Saddam Hussein’s downfall). I gave a well-rehearsed formulaic answer; so did Condi. Then the tone and register of her voice changed: “Democracy can take a long while. When the [US] Founding Fathers spoke of “We, the people” in the Declaration of Independence, they didn’t mean people like me” – of course, meaning African American people. Condi was correct. Indeed, there are many in the US who would argue that even today, in practice in many US states, African Americans enjoy fewer democratic rights than do white Americans. So it’s my view that we in the West need to show a little humility when it comes to criticising the rate of progress towards democracy in countries which have only had any freedoms for thirty years. I recall just recently reading a news report of someone fleeing from China across the border to Kazakhstan, so that they could live in peace. Kazakhstan is making good progress. I wish it good fortune for the future.

The Rt Hon Jack Straw PC was Home Secretary May 1997 to June 2001, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs June 2001 to May 2006, Leader of the House of Commons May 2006 to June 2007 and Justice Secretary June 2007 to May 2010.

HIS EXCELLENCY PAUL BRUMMELL CMG

The United Kingdom and Kazakhstan: a flourishing long-term partnership His Excellency Paul Brummell CMG Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Republic of Kazakhstan 2005-2009

I was delighted to be asked to contribute to this commemorative volume highlighting the 30th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Kazakhstan and the United Kingdom. It was an honour to serve as Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Kazakhstan for four years, from 2005 to 2009. The philosopher Paul Ricœur places us in medias res: we join a conversation that has already started, and must try to orient ourselves quickly in order to be able to contribute to it. In similar vein, Joseph Campbell, the great authority on comparative mythology, argued that life is like arriving late for a movie, having to figure out what is going on, and then getting called away before the end. The role of an ambassador feels like that. It is a privileged task, but carries with it a great responsibility, the stewardship of a relationship that predates your arrival and will continue long after you have departed. When I arrived in Kazakhstan in the cold December of 2005, the film of UK-Kazakhstan relations had been playing out for some time, and our partnership had already borne much fruit. The UK was one of the largest investors in Kazakhstan, with more than $5 billion of investment in the country. We were particularly strongly engaged in the oil and gas sector, where our presence embraced major operators like BG and Shell, globally renowned engineering contractors, and a huge range of suppliers and service providers. The considerable UK presence at the annual Kazakhstan International Oil and Gas Exhibition in Almaty, itself organised by a UK company, the ITE group, in concert with 31

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its Kazakhstani partner ITECA, was a testimony to the strength of this engagement. UK hydrocarbons companies were making an important contribution to Kazakhstan’s development, not least in working with their Kazakhstan partners to help the country overcome the major technical challenges confronting the exploitation of its oil and gas wealth. The Kashagan field for example, offers a cocktail of challenges: it is deep, under high pressure, rich in hydrogen sulphide, beneath waters of the Caspian too shallow for many conventional vessels and covered in ice during the winter. UK companies brought expertise to bear, honed in the exploitation of our own offshore hydrocarbons in the North Sea. Visits to Kazakhstan of HRH The Duke of York as UK Special Representative for International Trade and Investment in 2006 and 2007 underscored this contribution. It was clear though that our diplomatic representation to support our bilateral partnership was in the wrong place. The capital city of Kazakhstan had moved to Akmola, then named Astana and now Nur-Sultan, back in 1997. Yet the embassy was still in Almaty. My initial meetings with Kazakhstani ministers left me in no doubt that, while we still needed a presence in Almaty, which remained Kazakhstan’s largest city and an important regional hub, we needed to accelerate plans to relocate the embassy. A major focus of my first year at post lay in working with our highly talented estates specialists in London to deliver a move to new premises in Kazakhstan’s capital. Less than a year after my arrival, we were in. President Nazarbayev’s official visit to London in November 2006 provided an important spur to a greater level of ambition for our bilateral partnership. The visit included talks and a lunch with Prime Minister Tony Blair, a meeting with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, and a range of business engagements, including the opening of proceedings at the London Stock Exchange. There was discussion throughout the visit on the extent to which the UK could support Kazakhstan’s policy goals, in particular around its ambition to reach the ranks of the fifty most competitive countries of the world, and specifically its efforts to diversify its economic base and to ensure that its young people had the skills the country needed.

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The Kazakhstan authorities were increasingly keen to see not simply UK investment but UK support for developing Kazakhstani capability, including through local partnerships and the training and development of local staff. This formed part of a wider focus on education partnerships that was to form one of the strongest areas of growth during my tenure in Kazakhstan. I was delighted that increasing numbers of the brightest young Kazakhstani students took the decision to develop their studies in one of the UK’s great universities. Some were supported by the UK’s Chevening scholarships. A larger number received funding through Kazakhstan’s Bolashak scholarship scheme, and an important priority for the British Council operation in Kazakhstan was to work with the administrators of that scheme to ensure that UK courses were identified that best met needs. I always looked forward to events organised with the British Alumni Club of Kazakhstan, at which I was able to meet returned scholars, who were putting their UK studies to great effect in developing successful careers in Kazakhstan. Our education collaboration was not just about scholarships, but also focused on the development of the education sector in Kazakhstan itself. Many collaborations involved the Kazakh British Technical University in Almaty together with UK higher education institutions and UK companies. It was splendid to watch the development of the Haileybury Almaty School from planning stage to a successful opening as the first UK international school in Central Asia. And it was a pleasure to see exchanges between the young people of the two countries, for example through the Global Xchange programme run by Voluntary Service Overseas and the British Council. Developing collaboration within the financial services sector provided a further major plank of the UK’s engagement with Kazakhstan. Amidst a burgeoning number of listings of Kazakhstan companies on the London Stock Exchange and the AIM sub-market, the embassy worked closely with the City of London in seeking to explore how UK financial services could support Kazakhstan’s goals of strengthening its competitiveness and economic diversification. An event at Mansion House during President Nazarbayev’s visit in 2006 was followed

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by a visit to Kazakhstan the next year by then Lord Mayor of the City of London, John Stuttard, at the helm of a business delegation. There was much discussion of Kazakhstan’s plans to develop a regional finance centre and of the role that might be played by English common law. The strength of our engagement across the financial services agenda prompted another visit from the Lord Mayor of the City of London, this time Ian Luder, two years later. Our partnerships in education and financial services were two major planks in the diversification of our engagement with Kazakhstan beyond the oil and gas sector, but there were many more, for example in aviation, where the national carrier Air Astana, a joint venture between the Kazakhstan government and BAE Systems, continued to develop its fleet, network and ambitions. In the energy sector itself, where a bilateral memorandum of understanding underpinned our collaboration, we were keen to expand our engagement beyond the hydrocarbons sector. With the threats posed by climate change becoming ever more apparent, this included a dialogue on renewable energy sources. The UK also provided funding support for the decommissioning of the BN-350 nuclear reactor in Aktau, which dated from Soviet times. All good movies involve moments of drama, when a smooth course is derailed by the unexpected, and the global financial crisis emerging in 2007 provided just such an episode in the movie of the UK-Kazakhstan relationship. In Kazakhstan, it was initially largely perceived as a credit crisis. The fallout from the subprime mortgage affair became quickly apparent in Kazakhstan, partly because of the high external debts of the banking sector, and partly because Kazakhstan had the misfortune to be at the peak of a construction boom, characterised by speculative loanfunded high-end developments. The image of the stationary cranes in Almaty and Astana became the defining visual symbol of the crisis. From mid-2008, as the price of oil and other commodities dropped, the crisis took on a more complex and pervasive character. Investment projects were scaled back, industrial output declined and unemployment

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became a major concern. The response of the Kazakhstan government was a major anti-crisis programme, spearheaded by Samruk-Kazyna, an organisation formed through the merger of the state national holdings company and development organisation. The earlier development of a National Fund financed from the development of its hydrocarbons and mineral reserves gave the country a reasonable cushion of reserves from which to draw. Anti-crisis measures included the devaluation of the tenge to boost export competitiveness, a programme of bank recapitalisation, and support for the real economy, including an employment generation programme. The partnerships Kazakhstan had developed with the UK in the financial services sector were to prove hugely valuable in helping it to deliver this anti-crisis programme. And while the crisis was certainly a tough time, it further spurred government efforts to tackle longstanding hindrances to Kazakhstan’s economic development, such as overbureaucratisation and corruption. Kazakhstan declared its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, and thus during my tenure as ambassador the country was experiencing its teenage years as an independent republic, memories of the USSR still fresh. President Nazarbayev likened the process of developing the new state to building a new house: not just a matter of constructing walls and rooms, but of building a shelter, a haven, a shared living space. There was a clear desire for this house to be a home for the Kazakh people. The State Emblem is centred on a shanyrak, the apex of the yurt, the traditional home of the nomadic Kazakhs. There was a stress too that this home should be a unitary one. The symbolism of the Monument to Justice in Nur-Sultan is telling here, with its depictions of Kazybek Bi, Tole Bi and Aiteke Bi. These three respected judges, each representing a different tribe, or zhuz, brought the Kazakh tribes together in the Eighteenth Century to unite against the external threat posed by the Dzunghars. Yet President Nazarbayev also recognised the importance of ensuring that independent

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Kazakhstan also served as an inclusive house, reflecting its multi-ethnic, multi-faith population. Thus, the Russian language retains an official status, and Kazakhstan has used the triennial Congresses of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in NurSultan to emphasise the importance of religious tolerance. The UK offered a good deal of practical support to the political and societal development of this young state with ancient roots. Projects, often in concert with local civil society partners, ranged from improving transparency in local budgetary decisionmaking, to bolstering the capacity of parliamentary journalism, to promoting the public monitoring of detention facilities. Our discussions on democratic and civil society development were often robust, and while democratisation was a stated goal of the Kazakhstan government, the overriding priority was typically portrayed as economic growth. Discussions nonetheless always proceeded openly and constructively. As the world’s ninth-largest country, occupying the space that geographer Halford Mackinder identified as the geopolitically crucial Heartland in the centre of the Eurasian landmass, a neighbour to both Russia and China, Kazakhstan is an important country that remains far too little known. Our political dialogues and military cooperation, the latter centred on the annual Steppe Eagle exercise held to the north of Almaty, were warm and productive, with the Kazakhstan side offering illuminating perspectives on the wider region. The lack of awareness in western Europe and North America of the true Kazakhstan, of this beautiful, vibrant and fast developing country, provided the conditions that allowed Sacha Baron Cohen to portray the country as the home of fictional journalist Borat Sagdiyev. Borat’s outlandish and provocative views were really a device to uncover the prejudices of the American interviewees in his 2006 film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. That, however, was of little comfort to the people of Kazakhstan, or, indeed, to those of the village of Glod in Romania, where the ‘Kazakhstan’ scenes were filmed: another beautiful country to which it has been my pleasure to serve as HM ambassador. Some Kazakhstani responses to Borat aimed to disseminate a more accurate picture

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of the country, including a commission for Sacha Baron Cohen’s composer brother Erran to produce a new work, using traditional Kazakh instruments. Zere duly received its London premiere in 2007, performed by the Turan Alem Kazakh Philharmonic Orchestra. I was pleased to play my own small role in promoting awareness of the attractions of Kazakhstan, by writing in my free time in the country an English-language guidebook chronicling its richness and diversity: Kazakhstan: The Bradt Travel Guide. The book draws attention to some special places. For example, the Altai Mountains, said by some to be the legendary Buddhist kingdom of Shambala. The underground mosques of Mangistau, like Beket Ata, subject of a twoday pilgrimage across the desert. The domed Timurid mausoleum of Khodja Ahmed Yassaui in Turkestan. While there is still plenty of scope for tourism growth, it is great that increasing numbers of Britons are visiting this remarkable country. If the late writer and journalist Christopher Robbins, similarly lamenting that this fascinating country is too little known, described Kazakhstan as “the land that disappeared”, it is occupying an increasingly important place among the UK’s political and economic partnerships. Kazakhstan is now a land that is reappearing. My role in the movie that is the UKKazakhstan relationship ended in 2009, but I am pleased to have been able to stay in the cinema to watch the film unfold, and to see how the partnerships that were developing between 2005 and 2009 have continued to grow and to flourish.

His Excellency Paul Brummell CMG served as Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Kazakhstan from 2005 to 2009, having previously served as Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Turkmenistan. He subsequently served as High Commissioner to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean and Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Romania before becoming Head of Soft Power and External Affairs Department at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. In July 2021 he was appointed Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Latvia.

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President Nazarbayev and Prime Minister David Cameron launch the strategic partnership His Excellency Kairat Abusseitov Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the United Kingdom 2008-2014

In serving as the Ambassador for Kazakhstan in London for almost seven years from January 2008, it was a great pleasure and honour to be in post when the first ever formal visit by a serving UK Prime Minister took place to my country – that of David Cameron at the end of June 2013. The talks that ensued between President Nursultan Nazarbayev and the Prime Minister during this historic visit transformed a much valued, mainly trade and investment, relationship between Kazakhstan and the United Kingdom into a formal strategic partnership, gathering together many strands and ties of politics, diplomacy, investment, the rule of law, trade, culture, and societal and human well-being. In so doing, this created a powerful, multi-layered bond of mutual trust and collaboration on which the two countries could draw when, together, they addressed current and future challenges and opportunities. Not only in their best interests, but also in those of Central Asia and the wider world. But more of this later… Throughout the many years of my diplomatic career, I have had the honour of representing the Republic of Kazakhstan in many different countries – by interesting coincidence all of them in Western Europe. At the time, I thought that the geographical proximity of my various foreign postings would help make my diplomatic missions easier, particularly when initiating new ideas on enhancing and strengthening Kazakhstan’s relationships with those nations. But the reality proved – fortunately as it happened – to be quite different. 38

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Early in my tenure of office in London I knew it would become my most interesting, perhaps satisfying, overseas mission. This stemmed from my perception made quite soon after taking up my post that our UK counterparts did not just listen to my country’s ideas on future relations, but understood them. Moreover, they have continued to do so to this day. I believe this approach very much reflects the centuries-old research excellence of the British school of oriental studies and its influence on the UK’s Central Asia foreign policy makers down the ages, including, of course, during the last 30 years or so following the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the emergence of a whole new group of independent nations with whom the UK had to develop relations – including Kazakhstan. There are many different views on the genesis of British orientalism as a serious academic discipline with significant practical relevance for British foreign policy development. However, it is widely recognised that British orientalists produced some of the most significant research on the culture and economies of countries and regions across Asia – something on which I would reflect, for example, when participating in events at the Central Asia Forum at Cambridge University. Against this background, it is no coincidence that, in my personal view, the UK may have considered the European Union’s concept for partnership relations with Central Asia launched in 2007 as lacking sufficient scope, depth and direction – and, as a result, began developing its own programme for cooperation with the countries of the region soon afterwards. Envisioning the benefits of working with our region independently, albeit in parallel with the EU, foreign policy strategists set out to create a multi-layered, bi-lateral strategic relationship of equal partners taking account of cultural differences and playing to the needs and strengths of both sides – whilst including those of the entire Central Asian region. I encountered this vision of Central Asia at all levels of engagement and negotiations with UK politicians and diplomats, in discussions at conferences and round tables with representatives of business and finance, and at academic seminars and other gatherings at the country’s internationally-renowned universities. Ties between Kazakhstan and the UK developed strongly during the first two decades of Independence with the latter taking its place in the top tier of investors, including,

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amongst others, the US and the Netherlands – and by 2012 Kazakhstan was on the UK’s list of 14 priority states for developing future strategic trade and investment relations. Direct investments in the Kazakh economy were exceeding $10 billion a year with many foreign enterprises involving direct or indirect participation of UK capital, technology and other services – not only in the energy sector, but across various sectors of the economy, including transport, metallurgy, mechanical engineering, agro-industrial complex, healthcare, education and science, innovation and other spheres. That said, energy relations, nevertheless, continued to intensify thanks to the proactive involvement of UK companies in, for example, the implementation the Karachaganak project, increasing the throughput capacity of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, and developing the Pearls Block. Meanwhile, the start of commercial production at one of the world’s largest oil fields, Kashagan in 2013, as well as the construction of an integrated gas chemical complex in the Atyrau Region, were not only fundamentally important to the development of Kazakhstan’s energy industry, but powerful incentives and opportunities for further strengthening mutual investment business. Clearly by this point the time had come to gather together the many different strands of the Kazakh-UK relationship into an holistic framework and develop a more formal platform for the further development of future ties and collaboration. And much of my time during the later years of my Ambassadorship was devoted to helping to prepare the groundwork for this with my UK counterparts, and then setting in place the machinery to take it forward. During that period there was more than the usual flurry of visits by ministers, government officials and others in both directions between London and Astana (now Nur-Sultan) with travellers from the UK side including Charles Hendry, the Prime Minister’s Trade Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, and Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Baroness Warsi. Finally, history was made on 30 June 2013 when Prime Minister David Cameron stepped down from his plane at Atyrau Airport on the shore of the Caspian Sea – on the first leg of the first ever trip to Kazakhstan by a UK Prime Minister whilst in office. The talks which followed were extensive and intense, covering a vast area of subjects including further deepening and strengthening of trade and investment as a whole,

HIS EXCELLENCY KAIRAT ABUSSEITOV

and, in particular, the green economy and renewables, transportation, civil aviation, the liberalisation of the visa regime between the two countries, cultural and educational ties, and the future work of the British Council. Accompanied by 30 UK business leaders, around $2bn in new contracts were signed during the Prime Minister’s visit, with both leaders particularly welcoming that between the Kazakhstan Gharysh Sapary and the UK’s SSTL Company creating a new satellite joint venture and transferring the technology to Kazakhstan. Moreover, President Nazarbayev took the opportunity during the visit to invite UK companies to Astana Expo 2017: Future Energy – Kazakhstan’s strongest signal to the world by that point of its green credentials and ambitions. One of the visit’s most strategically important outcomes was agreement on introducing new elements into bilateral interaction focusing, in particular, on necessary politicalmilitary cooperation to help ensure security in Central Asia. Also the talks provided a good opportunity to discuss overall developments throughout the Middle East and, in particular, the Iran nuclear question, as well as global nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation issues, and the situation in Afghanistan – then, as now, the dominating security concern for the Central Asian region. Indeed, shortly after the leaders’ summit, negotiations on implementing agreements in this area continued in London between the heads of Kazakhstan’s National Security Committee and top UK Ministry of Defence officials – with training exercises to increase the Kazakh military’s peacekeeping capabilities and closer cooperation in relation to Afghanistan high on the agenda. Ultimately, on the second day of the visit all the above elements were brought together by a Joint Declaration signed by the President and the Prime Minister covering a new Strategic Partnership between the two countries – with the objective of bi-lateral working groups focusing on individual sectors gathered together beneath an overarching political dialogue. This envisaged structure was later integrated into the agenda of the Kazakh-British Intergovernmental Commission, inaugurated in London in November 2013 with the Kazakh delegation led by Asset Issekeshev, Deputy Prime Minister, and the UK delegation by Lord Green, Minister for Trade and Investment.

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We live in a world where lack of trust between nations is one of the greatest problems. Where trust is present between countries and peoples it often stems from the personal contribution of political leaders, and their mutual understanding, respect and chemistry at defining moments in their joint history. Such was the case with the 2013 Kazakh-UK summit – with, especially, personal chemistry high on the agenda as demonstrated within moments of the Prime Minister’s arrival in Kazakhstan. The UK Prime Minister’s plane landed at Atyrau airport an hour-and-a half behind schedule. The Prime Minister descended the ramp and met with the President on the welcome carpet, apologising for the delay. Shaking hands with his guest, the President replied: “An hour and a half is nothing. We have been waiting for you for 20 years”. It was an amusing exchange which not only set the tone for the entire visit, but helped ensure that two people from different generations with different worldviews almost immediately felt the desire not only to listen to each other but also to understand each other. However, the President’s response possessed much greater significance. For 20 years, the President had, indeed, harboured the prospect of such a summit in Kazakhstan with a UK Prime Minister as a potential pivotal moment in Kazakhstan’s strategic relationship not only with the UK, but as a key element in the country’s overall multi-vector foreign policy. It was my great privilege to witness history in the making, and I note with great satisfaction the ever-closer relationship still between the two countries as diplomatic relations between them pass the milestone of their 30th Anniversary.

His Excellency Kairat Abusseitov has had a long career in foreign affairs serving in many different roles including Ambassador to Switzerland and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva. He served as Ambassador to the UK between 2008 and 2014 (along with Sweden, Ireland and Iceland). He was also Ambassador to Norway and is currently Head of the Centre for International Programmes at the First President’s Foundation.

MARKING 30 YEARS OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS

“It is… a great honour for me to introduce this remarkable collection of essays by current and former political and diplomatic leaders from both countries marking the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Kazakhstan and the UK. This milestone comes at a time of great change for both countries as President Tokayev continues to roll-out major political, economic and social reforms, and the UK – no longer a member of the European Union – pursues its new global vision”. His Excellency Mukhtar Tileuberdi, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs 43

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“To date, much of President Tokayev’s time in office so far has over-lapped with the country’s crisis response to the Covid-19 pandemic, including protecting citizens with lockdowns, massive support for jobs and businesses and the development of Kazakhstan’s own vaccine – QazVac. However, such is the impetus of the reform programme that much has, nevertheless, still been set in place, including a National Council of Public Trust (NCPT) headed up by the President. This fundamentally important innovation is designed to promote constructive dialogue, consensus and trust between the government and the public across the entire arc of state activities to assist successful implementation of the reform programme”.

“Over the past two years President Tokayev has highlighted the development of human capital as the most important indicator for his state’s success in the coming years, and this is an area in which the UK is a natural partner”.

His Excellency Mukhtar Tileuberdi, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs

Her Excellency Kathy Leach, UK Ambassador to Kazakhstan

MARKING 30 YEARS OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS

“In October 1991, I was delighted that President Nursultan Nazarbayev accepted my invitation to make his first-ever visit to London, and to hold talks with me at 10 Downing Street. “…. I remember being struck by the sheer scale of the challenges that he faced, as Kazakhstan contemplated its future as an independent country. “But I also recall how impressed I was by the President’s clear and long-term strategic vision of how to meet these challenges. His emphasis on the need to ensure a peaceful and mutually-agreed solution to the question of the nuclear weapons located on Kazakh soil, underlined his credentials as a responsible and visionary Statesman”. The Rt Hon Sir John Major KG CH, Former UK Prime Minister 1990-1997

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The Rt Hon Sir John Major KG CH recalls: “During his 1994 visit, the President presented me with Kazakhstan’s instrument of ratification of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (in view of the UK’s role as one of the depositaries for that Treaty). It paved the way for the UK – together with the US and Russia – to offer Kazakhstan nuclear security assurances in the Budapest Memorandum, which I was pleased to sign with Presidents Yeltsin, Clinton and Nazarbayev in December 1994. The conclusion of this document marked the culmination of the process with which Kazakhstan voluntarily gave up its Soviet-era nuclear arsenal. With the passage of time, it is easy to overlook the strategic magnitude of this particular decision by the Kazakh authorities. But, in an era when a number of other States were seeking (sometimes successfully) to covertly develop nuclear weapons programmes of their own, Kazakhstan – together with Belarus and Ukraine – elected instead to embark on peaceful and voluntary nuclear disarmament. History will commend these decisions, and look upon them with approbation”.

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Former Kazakh Ambassador His Excellency Kanat Saudabayev writes: “It was a great honour and privilege to be Ambassador to the UK at an historic moment in the early years of my country’s Independence – the official opening in June 1997 of Kazakhstan’s first embassy in London by President Nazarbayev at 33 Thurloe Square, opposite the iconic Victoria and Albert Museum in the heart of London. Formally setting down its own diplomatic base in one of the world’s leading capital cities as part of its new and exciting story was a great source of pride for my country, and gave powerful symbolic and practical impetus to Kazakhstan’s efforts to build an ever-closer relationship with the UK. At the opening event, amidst warmth and informality, President Nazarbayev explained to assembled guests how Kazakhstan, as a young, resource-rich country, had successfully overcome the severe economic crises of its first years of Independence, and called for mutually beneficial cooperation and partnership with the UK, particularly in the fields of investment and technology. In turn, leading UK speakers representing government, industry, commerce and finance welcomed the President’s invitation to step up engagement at all levels”.

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President Nazarbayev meets Astana International Financial Centre Court Judges. “Kazakhstan has been a ground-breaker with the establishment of the Astana International Financial Centre, with its own court, and specially-appointed judges (all foreign nationals at the time of writing), to arbitrate on relevant disputes using a fast-track procedure outside the national court system, and following the principle of English Law – very flattering for English lawyers (me included!)” The Rt Hon Jack Straw PC Former UK Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary 48

MARKING 30 YEARS OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS

“On that first visit to the country, NurSultan was ‘work in progress’. Many parts had been completed, but there were building sites all around, as one would expect with a new capital. When I went back a decade or so later, I was struck by the astonishing progress made in the city. It now not only looked like a fine capital, but also felt like one as well, with a real buzz about the place. Much of this is down to an effective governmental system. One of its striking aspects has been the development of a cadre of bright, well-educated, and polyglot officials of both sexes to fill senior positions in its public administration”. The Rt Hon Jack Straw PC

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“Kazakhstan declared its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, and thus during my tenure as ambassador the country was experiencing its teenage years as an independent republic, memories of the USSR still fresh. President Nazarbayev likened the process of developing the new state to building a new house: not just a matter of constructing walls and rooms, but of building a shelter, a haven, a shared living space. There was a clear desire for this house to be a home for the Kazakh people. The State Emblem is centred on a shanyrak, the apex of the yurt, the traditional home of the nomadic Kazakhs”. His Excellency Paul Brummell CMG UK Ambassador to Kazakhstan 2005-2009

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“It was clear though that our diplomatic representation to support our bilateral partnership was in the wrong place. The capital city of Kazakhstan had moved to Akmola, then named Astana and now Nur-Sultan, back in 1997. Yet the embassy was still in Almaty. My initial meetings with Kazakhstani ministers left me in no doubt that, while we still needed a presence in Almaty, which remained Kazakhstan’s largest city and an important regional hub, we needed to accelerate plans to relocate the embassy. A major focus of my first year at post lay in working with our highly talented estates specialists in London to deliver a move to new premises in Kazakhstan’s capital. Less than a year after my arrival, we were in”. His Excellency Paul Brummell CMG

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Former Kazakh Ambassador His Excellency Kairat Abusseitov writes: “In serving as the Ambassador for Kazakhstan in London for almost seven years from January 2008, it was a great pleasure and honour to be in post when the first ever formal visit by a serving UK Prime Minister took place to my country – that of David Cameron at the end of June 2013. The talks that ensued between President Nursultan Nazarbayev and the Prime Minister during this historic visit transformed a much valued, mainly trade and investment, partnership between Kazakhstan and the United Kingdom into a formal strategic relationship, gathering together many strands and ties of politics, diplomacy, investment, the rule of law, trade, culture, and societal and human well-being. In so doing, this created a powerful, multi-layered bond of mutual trust and collaboration on which the two countries could draw when, together, they addressed current and future challenges and opportunities. Not only in their best interests, but also in those of Central Asia and the wider world”. Opposite and following pages Prime Minister David Cameron in Kazakhstan 2013.

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MARKING 30 YEARS OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS

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“Kazakhstan is taking steps to reform its judicial system to meet standards of international best practice. Back in 2015, as Foreign Secretary, I assisted this process by establishing a bilateral partnership aimed at combating crime and promoting the rule of law in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan has already made significant headway in the gradual liberalisation and modernisation of its criminal justice system, and this is certainly an area in which the UK can be a source of support and encouragement. Drawing on our own experience, we can provide technical assistance, similar to the establishment of the English Common Law Court in the AIFC, to help protect democratic values in Kazakhstan”. The Rt Hon Lord Hammond of Runnymede PC Former UK Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary 2014-2016

MARKING 30 YEARS OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS

“I was fortunate to become Ambassador to the UK in September 2014 at a time of dynamic progress and greater expectations still for Kazakh-UK relations following the visit the previous year of Prime Minister David Cameron to Kazakhstan – the first UK Prime Minister to do so whilst in office. Most importantly for long-term relations, the Prime Minister’s visit resulted in the adoption of a milestone joint statement on the strategic partnership between Kazakhstan and the UK setting out a framework of priority areas for co-operation, including political relations, trade and investment, defence, research and development, education and science, and culture. And, as the new Ambassador to London a year later, advancing progress in all these areas was, in essence, my job description!” His Excellency Erzhan Kazykhan Former Kazakh Ambassador to the UK 2014-2017

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Former Ambassador His Excellency Erzhan Kazykhan writes: “During my years in the UK I heard the Kazakh National Anthem played on many occasions, but there was one that always stands out in my memory. During President Nazarbayev’s official visit to London in 2015, he was invited by Her Majesty the Queen to lunch at her London residence. On his arrival he received a guard of honour, and, for the first time ever, the Kazakh National Anthem echoed around the central courtyard of Buckingham Palace. It was a poignant moment of great symbolism in the evolution of an ever deeper and broader relationship to which I was honoured to contribute”.

MARKING 30 YEARS OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS

Former Ambassador His Excellency Erzhan Kazykhan recalls: “During my Ambassadorship, the strategic relationship between Kazakhstan and the UK received another major boost with the official visit to London of President Nazarbayev in early November 2015 for a series of meetings with Prime Minister Cameron, key ministers and business leaders – with further expansion of trade and investment the main topic of discussion. Lord Rothschild kindly hosted a dinner in his honour at Spencer House, the magnificent 18th mansion which overlooks Green Park in Central London, attended by Minister of State for Trade and Investment Lord Maude and CEOs and other representatives of a number of leading companies and financial institutions, including ArcelorMittal, Barclays, BG Group, De La Rue, Glencore, Hinduja Group Limited, Royal Dutch Shell, Rio Tinto, and RIT Capital Partners. The President and Prime Minister also took part in the opening of the Kazakh-British Intergovernmental Commission, reaffirming our strategic partnership and willingness to further strengthen bilateral collaboration across the entire breadth of our shared interests. During the visit a number of important documents were signed including a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty covering collaboration on law enforcement between the two countries and an agreement on the UK’s participation in Astana Expo2017”. 59

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MARKING 30 YEARS OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS

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His Excellency Kairat Abdrakhmanov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan 2017-2018 recalls: “My visit to the UK on 19-22 November 2017 and the Strategic Dialogue meeting I had with my counterpart, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, was an important item on the agenda of bilateral political cooperation. Both Erlan Idrissov (on his second posting as Ambassador to the United Kingdom) and I were amazed at how enthusiastic the Foreign Secretary was about the new investment and trade opportunities offered by the transit potential of Kazakhstan’s vast territory - not only to our two countries, but Europe and Asia as a whole. I have no doubt that today, at the helm of Her Majesty’s Government, Prime Minister Johnson still keeps an eye on the prospects for furthering and widening the UK’s cooperation with Kazakhstan….. Indeed, our joint effort to expand our trade and investment exchange led to the launch of a direct freight railway route from China’s business hub of Yiwu through Kazakhstan and to London under the operational control of KTZ Express – a major Kazakh company”.

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Michael Gifford OBE, Her Majesty's Ambassador to Kazakhstan 2018-2021 writes: “During the November 2021 visit to Glasgow of the Kazakh Prime Minister, HE Askar Mamin, for the COP 26 summit, the UK and Kazakhstan recommitted to their strategic partnership, based on mutual trust, shared values and effective cooperation. I hope that the new agreement will become a reality in 2022. The UK strongly supports the Kazakhstan government’s efforts on economic and political reform, which have been so much a feature of the past 30 years. Continued reform is essential in such a fast-changing international environment. The economic reforms begun by First President Nursultan Nazarbayev have been continued by his successor, President Tokayev. The President’s creation in 2020 of the Supreme Council on Reform was an important step in pushing this process forward, and the appointment of Sir Suma Chakrabarti as its Deputy Chairman is another illustration of how the Kazakh government often turns to the UK for expertise and advice".

MARKING 30 YEARS OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS

“Some 30 years ago, I flew into the Soviet Union as a university languages student on my year abroad. Like pretty much everyone else, it never crossed my mind that just a few months later, I would be flying out of just one of 15 sovereign, independent states. Observing a political and economic system collapse, from the vantage point of the family who were kind enough to host me during those profoundly uncertain times, was an extraordinary, humbling experience. It is an immense honour to return with my own family 30 years later to one of those new states, as Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Kazakhstan, in time to celebrate this significant anniversary in person”. Her Excellency Kathy Leach Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Republic of Kazakhstan 2021-

KAZAKHSTAN & THE UNITED KINGDOM - STRATEGIC PARTNERS

Her Excellency Kathy Leach presenting her credentials to President Tokayev “Kazakhstan has become a Eurasian powerhouse. A series of early strategic decisions proved critical for Kazakhstan’s success. These included giving up its nuclear arsenal and creating an activist, multi-vector, peace-oriented foreign policy; opening up its tremendous but technically formidable oil and gas reserves to an international coalition of companies and creating the business environment to sustain successful inward investment; promoting a confidently multiethnic, multi-faith, multi-lingual state; and investing in its next generation, sending its best students to the best universities in the world..... “As we celebrate the 30th anniversary of our diplomatic relations and Kazakhstan’s independence, I have a strong sense of optimism. Working in partnership and trust, the opportunities of the next 30 years are there for us both to seize. I am looking forward to working with government, business, civil society, and students to help shape this vision together.” Her Excellency Kathy Leach

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“I am pleased to say COP26 succeeded in its main goal – to ‘keep 1.5 alive’. That means collectively we managed to agree steps to accelerate action to keep the world within sight of no more than 1.5 degrees of global warming, and to define more clearly the path towards net zero global carbon emissions. For Kazakhstan, which has built its prosperity in large part on its abundant oil, gas and coal reserves, this is exceptionally challenging. Nevertheless, President Tokayev announced at the December 2020 Climate Ambition Summit that Kazakhstan would pledge to reach carbon neutrality no later than 2060. In Glasgow, Prime Minister Mamin added to this by highlighting further targets from Kazakhstan’s developing Carbon Neutrality Doctrine, including the phase out of coal by 2050. Together these are transformative targets, a powerful signal of President Tokayev’s commitment to developing low-carbon sustainable growth.” Her Excellency Kathy Leach

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“Looking to the future there are several key areas where the two countries will undoubtedly be working closely together as friends and partners, including the single-most important issue facing all countries – climate change...

UK corporate and financial institutions across the entire arc of the green economy. Such opportunities could also emerge in the context of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which could generate many new businesses involving UK, Kazakh, Chinese and other partners.

(An)… important bilateral outcome of COP26 was that the Kazakhstan and UK governments adopted a Joint Statement on Strategic Partnership and Joint Efforts to Respond to Climate Change. While emphasising stronger cooperation in environmental protection and decarbonisation of the economy, the Statement strongly aims at further cementing Kazakh-British multi-faceted strategic partnership in the years to come.

Indeed, I believe that whilst the New Silk Route has a definitive origin on China’s east coast and a well-defined 3000-kilometre corridor embracing much of the Old Silk Route across Kazakhstan, it lacks a logical geographical terminus in western Europe. Perhaps there is much more here for the economic architects of the new Global Britain to explore with their Kazakh partners?”.

This approach will undoubtedly generate many collaborative opportunities with

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“Raising awareness of Kazakhstan’s rich history and cultural traditions, as well as its modern achievements in music, poetry and arts, became a uniquely valuable diplomatic currency and strong binding force between Kazakhstan and its many friends in the UK, and elsewhere. Indeed, I have always regarded Kazakhstan’s writers, poets, composers, musicians and singers as my colleagues – cultural ambassadors who communicate in their own inimitable ways what it means to be Kazakh and our identity as a people, thereby building a better understanding of Kazakhstan’s place in today’s world, and the future world we wish to help create”.

International award-winning Kazakh pianist Nurgul Nussipzhanova performs at a European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Concert in London, July 2019.

His Excellency Erlan Idrissov Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the United Kingdom

Astana Ballet performing in London, September 2019.

Abay State Opera and Ballet Theatre perform in London, November 2019. 69

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His Excellency Erlan Idrissov leads Nauryz celebrations, Spring 2019, UCL London.

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To mark the 175th anniversary in 2020 of the birth of Abai Kunanbaiuly, the founder of written Kazakh literature, Cambridge University Press and the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan launched the first ever complete English-language collection of the works.

Launch of English Anthologies of Contemporary Kazakh Poetry and Prose published by Kazakhstan’s National Bureau of Translations in partnership with Cambridge University Press. His Excellency Erlan Idrissov addresses launch event at the British Library.

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His Excellency Erlan Idrissov writes: “Cambridge continues to feature significantly in our cultural efforts. It was here, in September 2021, at the Fitzwilliam Museum where I had the enormous privilege of opening the Gold of the Great Steppe exhibition containing UK-Kazakhstan archaeological discoveries and research from three different burial complexes in East Kazakhstan, Berel, Shilikti and Eleke Sazy, uniquely illuminating the life and legacy of the Saka people, and exploring their points of resonance with Kazakh culture today”.

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His Excellency Erlan Idrissov with Sir Lindsey Hoyle, the Speaker of the House of Commons, October 2021.

Kazakhstan’s flag flies in New Palace Yard, the House of Commons, during His Excellency Erlan Idrissov’s meeting with Speaker Sir Lindsey Hoyle. 74

THE RT HON LORD HAMMOND OF RUNNYMEDE PC

UK-Kazakh relations: towards new horizons The Rt Hon Lord Hammond of Runnymede PC Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 2014-2016

The United Kingdom and Kazakhstan have enjoyed good relations since the early days of Kazakhstan’s Independence in 1991. Over the past thirty years, our two countries have come a long way in the evolution of our bilateral relations – in political cooperation, trade and investment, democratic participation and environmental protection. I am certain that further opportunities for cooperation and growth are on the horizon. As Secretary of State for Defence, I first met with First President Nursultan Nazarbayev during a trip to Nur-Sultan, then Astana, in 2012 where we discussed key regional security issues. We met again when President Nazarbayev visited London in 2015. By then I was Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, and I joined former Prime Minister, David Cameron, in welcoming the Kazakhstan delegation. That wasn’t the first time our two countries held high-level meetings during my time in government. In fact, a significant milestone in our bilateral relations was the first visit of a UK Prime Minister to Kazakhstan in 2013. During that visit, David Cameron and President Nazarbayev established the InterGovernmental Commission, thereby facilitating a platform for political and economic dialogue between the two countries. To this day, the conversation between our countries’ diplomats continues with the Inter-Governmental Commission heading towards its 10th year. Under President Tokayev, UK-Kazakhstan relations continue to thrive. I commend President Tokayev’s swift and decisive leadership during the first months of the COVID-19 crisis. Now, as the world slowly navigates its way out of the pandemic and tries to find global solutions to avert future catastrophes, the need for partnership and collaboration between our countries is reinforced.

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The UK is already one of the five largest trade and investment partners of Kazakhstan. UK companies have been doing business in Kazakhstan since the early days of its Independence, particularly in the oil and gas sector. And, by 2020, the volume of that trade reached £1.7 billion. Organisations like the British Chamber of Commerce in Kazakhstan continue to facilitate the investment flow between our two countries. In turn, I see Kazakhstan’s Astana International Financial Center (AIFC) as another platform for bilateral economic cooperation. Generally, when foreign businesses know they have access to arbitration that operates within the English common law system, such as that provided by the AIFC, investor confidence is built. Kazakhstan’s rapidly growing economy has also made an impact in the UK financial sector. I note that Kaspi Bank was named the second largest IPO on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in 2020. The Bank’s success in raising over $1bn highlights both the dynamism of Kazakhstan’s financial sector and London’s role as a banking and fintech hub. Following the UK’s exit from the European Union (EU), it is a priority for the UK to develop even closer relations with emerging economies. Kazakhstan is one of the best examples of a country where the UK can cultivate greater trade and investment abroad. Its welcoming business environment and resolute diversification into expanding and emerging sectors will continue to be a driver of cooperation. The UK prides itself on having some of the world’s most admired democratic and judicial institutions. The modern UK Parliament is one of the oldest continuous representative assemblies in the world, and I am proud to have served as an elected Member of it. It is, therefore, encouraging to see President Tokayev’s commitment to promoting wider democratic participation in Kazakhstan with one of his key initiatives, the ‘Listening State’, encouraging the voice of civil society in government through more open dialogue. After spending a large part of the 20th century in the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan is redefining its culture to be one based on the pluralism of opinions. As much as trade and

THE RT HON LORD HAMMOND OF RUNNYMEDE PC

investment, this convergence of cultural norms between the two countries will underpin our future relationship. Kazakhstan is taking steps to reform its judicial system to meet standards of international best practice. Back in 2015, as Foreign Secretary, I assisted this process by establishing a bilateral partnership aimed at combating crime and promoting the rule of law in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan has already made significant headway in the gradual liberalisation and modernisation of its criminal justice system, and this is certainly an area in which the UK can be a source of support and encouragement. Drawing on our own experience, we can provide technical assistance, similar to the establishment of the English Common Law Court in the AIFC, to help protect democratic values in Kazakhstan. It is also worth mentioning that the Government of Kazakhstan is committed to reducing the role of the state in the economy. The UK Government went through a similar experience under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s with many utilities and industries, such as railways, airlines, gas, electricity, telecoms and water, privatised on her watch. My former colleague, Francis Maude – who is a good friend of Kazakhstan and a former Independent Director at AIFC Business Connect – was Margaret Thatcher’s Minister for Privatisation at the time, with the responsibility for delivering these measures. Kazakhstan’s privatisation plan seeks to decrease the participation of the state in the country’s economy by 15% of GDP. It has successfully managed to sell more than half of the state-owned companies, generating billions of dollars and allowing the Government to reallocate its resources towards essential frontline services for its citizens. However, the UK knows from experience that privatisation is a lengthy process that requires a prudent, strategic approach. Kazakhstan’s privatisation campaign can benefit from increased knowledge-sharing from the UK in this complicated area. The UK’s hosting of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow was aimed at accelerating global action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

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The UK has established its credentials as an ambitious and effective leader on climate change among European nations and increasingly looks to work with partners committed to protecting future generations from resource depletion and climate change. As a major hydrocarbon producing country, Kazakhstan recognises the need to diversify its energy sources, both to reduce its dependence on non-renewables and to reduce its carbon emissions. The importance of access to safe and sustainable energy to Kazakhstan was highlighted when it hosted the Astana Expo 2017 on Future Energy. The Government of Kazakhstan has already partnered with international financial institutions, such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, headquartered in London, to build one of the largest wind farms in the region. It is to be commended that the Government is pairing these high-level actions with the promotion of environmental awareness at local level, such as through education at schools and universities. Balancing economic growth and environmental protection is not an easy task, in either the UK or Kazakhstan. But the creative solutions in green finance mechanisms and environmental legislation that Kazakhstan has introduced will undoubtedly help. We can go on learning from each other’s efforts as we make this difficult, but vital, journey towards Net Zero Carbon. Over the last 30 years, the UK and Kazakhstan have built close relations between our governments, greater partnership between our economies and a gradual convergence in our values. The UK has now left the European Union – but it has not left Europe. The fundamentals of the UK’s bilateral partnership with Kazakhstan will not change as the UK builds its new future in the global economy.

The Rt Hon Lord Hammond of Runnymede served as a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons between 1997 and 2019 during which time he occupied a series of senior Cabinet posts. These included the roles of Secretary of State for Defence 2011 to 2014, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 2014 to 2016 and Chancellor of the Exchequer 2016 to 2019. He now sits in the House of Lords.

HIS EXCELLENCY ERZHAN KAZYKHAN

Kazakhstan and the United Kingdom: the Strategic Pathway His Excellency Erzhan Kazykhan Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the United Kingdom 2014-2017

The 30th Anniversary of Kazakhstan-United Kingdom diplomatic relations represents a major landmark in the strategic relationship between the two countries, but as an avid historian, I feel this is an apposite moment to note close ties span not only the past three decades, but encompass centuries’ long commercial and cultural connections driven by intrepid explorers. Amongst the earliest and arguably the most famous of these was Thomas Witlam Atkinson, who travelled the Eastern Kazakh Steppes with his wife Lucy in the midNineteenth Century. Variously described as a quarryman, stonemason, architect and artist, Atkinson recorded the astonishing scenes he encountered in a series of vivid drawings and water colours. One of the views he painted was of Tamchiboulac Spring, in the village of Qapal in the Almaty Region of eastern Kazakhstan, where on 4 November 1848 Lucy gave birth to a son, whose second name was taken from that of the Spring. The dauntless couple’s journey is recounted in South to the Great Steppe: The Travels of Thomas and Lucy Atkinson in Eastern Kazakhstan by Nick Fielding. Telling the story of the Atkinsons’ many meetings with Kazakh leaders during their travels and Thomas’ portraits of the Sultans in their finery, surrounded by their hunting eagles, horses, camels and livestock, the book provides a strikingly unique insight into Kazakh life at the time. Others followed in their footsteps. Major Herbert Wood of the Royal Engineers and the Royal Geographical Society travelled widely through what is now western Kazakhstan in the early 1870s, later reporting his observations and opinions in his book, 79

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The Shores of Lake Aral (1876), describing the Kazakhs he met as “well-fed and goodlooking”! Soldiers were not the only British drawn to the Kazakh steppe. From the Spring of 1886 to the Autumn of 1887 the naturalist William Bateson travelled widely in the region, later publishing Letters from the Steppe, the entertaining private diary of his exploits and discoveries. After explorers and biologists came those intent on commercial activity. One of the first recorded British investments in Kazakhstan came in 1907 when a British company bought the concession to the coal mines in Karaganda, bringing with them English miners to work the rich seams. Against the background of this vivid historical tapestry, more than eight decades later the UK became one of the first countries to recognise Kazakhstan as an independent sovereign country in 1992. From the very first days of Independence, the relationship between Kazakhstan and the UK has been based on a mutual interest in strengthening bonds of partnership, friendship and trust, and since diplomatic relations were established First President of Kazakhstan Elbasy Nursultan Nazarbayev has visited the UK on nine occasions with leading government ministers regularly travelling to London. In addition to numerous visits to Kazakhstan by leading UK government ministers, including Prime Minister David Cameron, senior members of the Royal Family have also made a significant number of visits to the country. Kazakhstan and the UK share a mutual commitment to the principles and objectives of the Charter of the United Nations, the Helsinki Final Act and other international documents, including the Astana Commemorative Declaration of the OSCE Summit: Towards a Security Community, as well as the objectives and principles of the Council of Europe, and the application of universally recognised norms of international law and human rights. Moreover, our two countries possess the same regional and global objectives: promoting peace and security, strengthening democracy and human rights, freedom and prosperity, and a common interest in addressing global challenges. I was fortunate to become Ambassador to the UK in September 2014 at a time of

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dynamic progress and greater expectations still for Kazakh-UK relations following the visit the previous year of Prime Minister David Cameron to Kazakhstan – the first UK Prime Minister to do so whilst in office. President Nursultan Nazarbayev had welcomed Prime Minister Cameron in mid2013 initially in Atyrau on the Caspian Sea where the two leaders participated in the launch of the Bolashak production facility to serve the Kashagan offshore oil field before flying on to the capital Astana, now renamed Nur-Sultan. The Prime Minister was accompanied by over 30 British business leaders who signed £700m worth of deals creating new jobs and opportunities in both Kazakhstan and the UK covering not only the energy and mineral sectors, but also transport, communications and other infrastructure industries, and further strengthening the UK’s position as a major investor in Kazakhstan. However, most importantly for long-term relations, the Prime Minister’s visit resulted in the adoption of a milestone joint statement on the strategic partnership between Kazakhstan and the UK setting out a framework of priority areas for co-operation, including political relations, trade and investment, defence, research and development, education and science, and culture. And, as the new Ambassador to London a year later, advancing progress in all these areas was, in essence, my job description! The priority areas, of course, were not siloed, but often closely interlinked. This was especially my experience when dealing with three transformational projects and their significance for Kazakh-UK relations – the roll-out of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the staging of Astana Expo 2017: Future Energy and the creation of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC). All three in their different ways occupied much of my attention, and encompassed several priority areas including, in particular, trade and investment. The significance of the Belt and Road Initiative to Kazakhstan – and vice versa – was underlined in 2013 when, with President Nazarbayev at his side, China’s President Xi Jinping announced this great multi-billion dollar initiative to the world in Astana. The “Belt”, or New Silk Road, element had been designed to link the east coast of China with western Europe by creating new – or upgrading old – roads and railways,

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thereby revolutionizing transport links and providing a seismic boost to trade, investment and overall economic development along its entire length – several thousand kilometres of which would cross Kazakhstan. The implications for Kazakhstan were – and remain – huge. And the same applies to Kazakhstan’s trading partners. So much so that the future transformative role of the Belt as a business multiplier increasingly assumed top-billing when, as Ambassador, I spoke at investment conferences, seminars and private meetings urging companies and financial institutions to build the New Silk Road’s benefits and opportunities into their current and potential Kazakh investment calculations. Moreover, I stressed, in particular, the strategic potential of Kazakhstan as an ideal location for joint ventures combining, for example, Kazakh human, land and other resources with UK technology and research and Chinese capital and industrial development capabilities. The argument remains as compelling today as it did then. Astana Expo 2017: Future Energy was another powerful point of engagement and collaboration between Kazakhstan and the UK during much of my time as Ambassador. Although, much of the Kazakh-UK economic relationship had originally been based on traditional energy resources, both countries had since made major leaps forward in the development of alternative energy supply sources, including, in particular, renewables, as well as addressing the development of new energy conservation technology. Further, in the UK’s case, London was a world-leading location for energy corporates, energy trading and energy project funding, as well as other financial and professional services directly relevant to the future of energy supplies. Also, UK universities and other centres of research excellence were accelerating their work on all aspects of the future energy equation. Against this background I and my colleagues at the Embassy, together with a wave of visiting officials from Kazakhstan, were able to build strong interest in the event from UK organisations, both in the public and private sectors – often working closely with Charles Hendry, Prime Minister David Cameron’s Trade Envoy to Kazakhstan and the UK Government’s Commissioner for the UK Pavilion at Astana Expo2017. The UK theme for its presence at the Astana Expo 2017 was “We Are Energy” and its Pavilion – complete with an interactive yurt surrounded by changing landscapes – not

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only provided an innovative engagement platform for a diverse range of exhibitors and sponsors, including Shell, Manchester University, Aggreko plc, the Scottish Government and the London Stock Exchange, but its British design team led by Asif Khan won silver in the Expo’s prestigious design awards showcasing the UK’s world class creative industries – another sector with which Kazakhstan continues to build close links. Kazakh-UK partnership made an important contribution to Astana Expo’s immense significance and success, but there was also another major project which during the same time period was receiving ever more interest and attention in London – the creation of the AIFC to be located on the vacated Astana Expo site. The objectives behind AIFC were to develop deep and innovative capital markets providing various types of funding to support Kazakhstan’s long-term development, and, in the process, create a regional and, eventually, global financial hub – Central Asia’s first, which would benefit internationally from its location in the Eurasian time zone between the markets of south-east Asia and Europe. Its architects were also aiming high in terms of products. In addition to creating conventional markets in securities trading and corporate, project trade finance, they set out to launch specialist finance windows for Islamic and green finance, as well as create a fin-tech research and development facility designed to create successful spin-out opportunities. In our research and development phase for AIFC we consulted our friends in global financial centres around the world – none more so than in London to which Kairat Kelimbetov, the AIFC’s Governor appointed in late 2015, became a frequent visitor, particularly to the City whose major financial institutions, including the London Stock Exchange, provided help and assistance, along with TheCityUK, the membership body which champions the financial and related professional services industry. Eventually, in order to maximise the attraction of the AIFC to professional and private investors nationally, regionally and globally, it was decided that it should operate on the basis of the principles, norms and precedents of the laws of England and Wales. A highly innovative move and the first of its kind in Central Asia, it played a key role in the successful launch and development of the AIFC – which now has over 900 registered companies – and took relations between Kazakhstan and the UK to a new level.

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During my Ambassadorship, the strategic relationship between Kazakhstan and the UK received another major boost with the official visit to London of President Nazarbayev in early November 2015 for a series of meetings with Prime Minister Cameron, key ministers and business leaders – with further expansion of trade and investment the main topic of discussion. Lord Rothschild kindly hosted a dinner in his honour at Spencer House, the magnificent 18th mansion which overlooks Green Park in Central London, attended by Minister of State for Trade and Investment Lord Maude and CEOs and other representatives of a number of leading companies and financial institutions, including ArcelorMittal, Barclays, BG Group, De La Rue, Glencore, Hinduja Group Limited, Royal Dutch Shell, Rio Tinto, and RIT Capital Partners. The President and Prime Minister also took part in the opening of the Kazakh-British Intergovernmental Commission, reaffirming our strategic partnership and willingness to further strengthen bilateral collaboration across the entire breadth of our shared interests. During the visit a number of important documents were signed including a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty covering collaboration on law enforcement between the two countries and an agreement on the UK’s participation in Astana Expo2017. I have many remarkable, indeed, poignant memories of the time I spent in the UK before my subsequent posting as Ambassador to the United States in February 2017. Here are three I often recall. In Spring 2015 I attended the Royal Air Force’s Cosford Air Show as a guest of the RAF Museum whose site is adjacent to the airbase. During a break in the flying displays I was invited by the Chairman of the Museum’s Trustees, Sir Glenn Torpy, former Chief of the Air Staff, and Chief Executive Maggie Appleton, to visit the Museum’s National Cold War Exhibition – a vast, modern hangar full of exhibits which told the grim story of more than four decades of our common history when the threat of nuclear confrontation cast a dark and dangerous shadow across our two countries – indeed all countries. I complimented my hosts on the great value of the Exhibition as an educational platform and then, surrounded by the military relics of Cold War, we spoke for a

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short while about Kazakhstan’s post-Independence removal of its vast store of nuclear weapons and subsequent transformation into a leading international force for nuclear disarmament. It was an intensely evocative, almost surreal, juxtaposition of place and words – and one that travels with me. Another unforgettable event took place in Spring 2016 at the launch of South to the Great Steppe, the story of the Atkinsons I referred to above. Organised by the Cambridge Central Asia Forum (CCAF), the University of Cambridge’s Jesus College and the Embassy of Kazakhstan, it was attended by Professor Ian White, Master of Jesus College and Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Peter Nolan, Director of Centre of Development Studies, University of Cambridge, CCAF Chair Dr Siddharth Saxena, who moderated the programme – and, of course, the book’s author Nick Fielding. After the presentations, and accompanied by staff, students and members of the public – some 400 people in all – we gathered in the ancient Chapel of Jesus College, some four hundred years older than Cambridge University itself, at a concert to celebrate Nauryz, the festival of the Spring and the onset of the Season of plenty that Kazakhstan shares with all the Turkic people. Soon music and poetry evoking the endless Great Steppe of my country’s ancestors rose to the rafters of this ancient place thousands of miles away in the midst of England’s flat Fenland in a spirit of shared togetherness and friendship. Finally, during my years in the UK I heard the Kazakh National Anthem played on many occasions, but there was one that always stands out in my memory. During President Nazarbayev’s official visit to London in 2015, he was invited by Her Majesty the Queen to lunch at her London residence. On his arrival he received a guard of honour, and, for the first time ever, the Kazakh National Anthem echoed around the central courtyard of Buckingham Palace. It was a poignant moment of great symbolism in the evolution of an ever deeper and broader relationship to which I was honoured to contribute.

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His Excellency Erzhan Kazykhan has served in a number of leading roles, including representing Kazakhstan at the United Nations between 2003 and 2007, and occupying the role of Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2011-2012. After serving as Ambassador to the United Kingdom between 2014 and 2017, he was appointed Ambassador to the United States. Having on two previous occasions occupied the position of advisor to the First President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, he currently holds that of President Tokayev’s Special Representative for International Cooperation.

HIS EXCELLENCY KAIRAT ABDRAKHMANOV

Pursuing new levels of strategic partnership His Excellency Kairat Abdrakhmanov Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan 2016-2018

For me the Kazakh-UK relationship is one of deep and unfading memories – a personal connection dating back to 1993 when I began my career in Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a desk officer in charge of liaising with the UK Embassy in Almaty, independent Kazakhstan’s first capital. As such, I had the pleasure of working with Her Majesty’s first Ambassador to my country, His Excellency Noel Jones, who sadly died in 1995. The memory of this remarkable man still lives amongst us, and the experience of working with such a seasoned diplomat and his talented team at the first UK Embassy proved extremely valuable throughout my foreign policy career. Indeed, it was no coincidence that I chose London as the destination for my first foreign posting as Minister-Counsellor. Serving there in between 2001 and 2003 shaped my subsequent career path, leading me to the position of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in several other countries. The work of the Kazakh team based at our Embassy in Thurloe Square, opposite London’s iconic Victoria and Albert Museum, was led by such prominent figures as Ambassador Adil Akhmetov and Ambassador Erlan Idrissov, and laid the foundations of what subsequently became a strong, multifaceted partnership between Nur-Sultan (then Astana) and London. The many successes during this period included the establishment of the KazakhBritish Technical University, the creation of Kazakhstan’s national carrier Air Astana with the UK’s BAE Systems, and the expansion of Lakshmi Mittal’s investment in the Karagandy Metallurgical Plant. 87

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Later, I also had the honour of contributing to the Kazakh-UK partnership as Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister between 2016 and 2018. At that time the UK was about to have a General Election and commence its Brexit negotiations with the European Union. However, despite this heavy agenda, the UK’s relationship with Kazakhstan continued to develop positively and dynamically, including during my visit to London in November 2017 when I held wide-ranging talks with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson MP. We not only discussed the two countries’ bilateral partnership, but also regional and global developments, including China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and focused on cooperation within the United Nations’ Security Council which Kazakhstan was preparing to chair in January 2018. Both Erlan Idrissov (on his second posting as Ambassador to the UK) and I were amazed at the Foreign Secretary’s enthusiasm about new investment and trade opportunities offered by the “Belt” transiting Kazakhstan’s vast territory – not only for our two countries, but also for Europe and Asia as a whole. Indeed, while sitting with Boris Johnson in his office in Whitehall, we scrolled eagerly through maps in his world atlas discussing the possibility of arranging a meeting of foreign ministers of three countries – Kazakhstan, UK, and China – on the KazakhChinese border at Khorgos, a rapidly emerging transnational logistics hub. Indeed, our joint effort to expand our trade and investment exchange led to the launch of a direct freight railway route from China’s business hub of Yiwu through Kazakhstan and on to London under the operational control of KTZ, Kazakhstan’s national railway company. The strategic value of this new link was very much emphasised in March 2021, when the Suez Canal was blocked by the container ship Ever Given and alternative routes for east-west trade had to be found. I have no doubt that today, at the helm of Her Majesty’s Government, Prime Minister Johnson still keeps an eye on the prospects for furthering and widening the UK’s cooperation with Kazakhstan driven, in part, by the many new opportunities offered by the New Silk Road. As Foreign Minister I paid special attention to economic diplomacy and interaction

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with UK investors, including at events such as the Investor Day hosted by sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna (which performed as a road show on the privatisation of the fund’s major assets), the Kazakh-British Investment Forum, and the Kazakh-British Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation. Astana Expo 2017 : Future Energy also played a significant role in bilateral collaboration through hosting a number of events and visits. For instance, the design of the UK Pavilion was officially launched at the Foreign Office; UK tour operators hosted a road show themed “Travel along the Great Silk Road together with Astana Expo 2017”; and the Duke of Gloucester visited Nur-Sultan to officially launch the UK National Pavilion accompanied by a UK business delegation. The UK actively supported the Astana Expo through regular visits by business delegations led by, amongst others, such dignitaries as Sir Andrew Charles Parmley, Lord Mayor of the City of London, Greg Hands MP, Minister of State for Trade Policy, as well as Sir Alan Duncan MP, Minister of State for Europe and the Americas. During the exhibition, Lord Maude, former Minister of State for Trade and Investment, also visited Kazakhstan to participate in the Astana Economic Forum, while Sir Suma Chakrabarti, President of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and Ben van Beurden, CEO Royal Dutch Shell attended in the 30th meeting of the Foreign Investors Council under the chairmanship of the President Nazarbayev. At the time the UK was already well-placed as one of the five largest investors in the Kazakh economy, and Kazakhstan was included in the list of priority foreign economic partners of the UK. Kazakhstan’s non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council in 2017-18 further underpinned relations between the two countries’ foreign ministries and their teams at the United Nations. This was especially demonstrated in January 2018 when the UK fully supported Kazakhstan’s UN Security Council chairmanship programme and took part in the 18 January high-level thematic briefing entitled: “Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction: Confidence-Building Measures” chaired by President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

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Speaking on behalf of the UK Government, UK Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific Mark Field MP warmly congratulated Kazakhstan “on becoming the first Central Asian nation to steer and chair the Security Council” and noted that Kazakhstan’s “historic commitment to nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament is well known”. As Foreign Minister I was also eager to see the development of greater interparliamentary ties as a further effective instrument of interaction. In this context I was delighted, for example, when Members of the UK Parliament led by Colonel Bob Stewart MP visited Astana in May-June 2018 – a visit which focussed on intensifying inter-parliamentary and trade and investment cooperation. Continued political dialogue, including a meeting between President Nazarbayev and Prime Minister Theresa May on the fringes of the Asia-Europe Summit in Brussels on 19 October 2018, provided further impetus for wider cooperation between the two countries. Integral to the development of investment cooperation, the Kazakhstan Global Investment Forum was held in London in October 2018, co-hosted by the Financial Times’ fDi magazine, sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna and Kazakh Invest, the government’s one-stop-shop inward investment promotion agency This important Forum provided a valuable opportunity for the leadership of Kazakhstan’s governmental bodies and quasi-state companies to discuss with UK partners innovations introduced by Kazakhstan to further enhance its investment climate. These covered tax and customs benefits, the privatisation of state assets, and the potential gains for investors derived from Kazakhstan’s strategic geographical position at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, and the foundation in 2018 of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) as Central Asia’s aspirational financial hub with operations based on English Common Law. The Kazakh delegation’s programme of bilateral meetings included negotiations with business executives from major organisations, such as RIT Capital Partners, Danaher, Hinduja Group, Aberdeen Standard Life Asset Management, Rio Tinto, and Blackrock Asset Management, and the Forum also provided a platform for further strengthening collaboration with UK Export Finance (UKEF). Indeed, in September 2018, UKEF Chair Louis Taylor had visited Nur-Sultan (then

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Astana) to meet with Kazakh officials and business executives and in that year the amount of concessional funding allocated by UKEF for projects in Kazakhstan increased from £1 billion to £2.5 billion. London as a global financial centre of gravity made and continues to make a great contribution to the development of the AIFC. The City of London was an important partner in the AIFC’s institutional formation and development. Indeed, the Kazakhstan’s Constitutional Law on the AIFC naturally linked the UK capital with the AIFC, predetermining this close partnership. The year 2018 marked the historic double-listing of shares in Kazatomprom, the world’s leading uranium producer, on both the AIFC and the London Stock Exchange – the first Central Asian corporate listing on the latter exchange in over ten years. Finally, throughout my career I was always very much aware of the powerful role of culture and education in relations between countries and peoples not only because of the wider arc of learning and understanding they bring to individuals in all nations, but also due to their value as diplomatic currency. Collaboration between the British Council and Kazakhstan very much fell into this category significantly contributing to the constructive ambience of talks and discussions across so many different subject areas. In November 2018 a representative delegation of the British Council and prominent political and public figures visited Kazakhstan. The delegation took part in the Soft Power Symposium at the Nazarbayev University and in the Creative Central Asia Forum, and met with graduates of UK universities who studied under the Bolashak Presidential Scholarship, and, amongst others, the Chevening, John Smith Trust and other programmes. These and other contacts accelerated cooperation with the British Council in a number of areas, including a large-scale project led by Kazakhstan’s National Bureau of Translation on creating the anthologies of contemporary Kazakh literature edited and published by Cambridge University Press. Whether working in the UK as a young diplomat, visiting the UK as Foreign Minister or cooperating with the UK in different capacities in Kazakhstan, Vienna, New York or elsewhere, I have been privileged to participate in the evolution of a relationship

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between our two countries which constantly seeks to attain ever higher levels of strategic integration. And, for me personally, meetings and interaction with my UK opposite numbers have always been one of the great pleasures of my career as a diplomatic representative of my country. The 30th Anniversary of diplomatic relations between Kazakhstan and the UK is, indeed, cause for great celebration!

His Excellency Kairat Abdrakhmanov joined Kazakstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1993, subsequently serving as Deputy Head of Mission at the Kazakh Embassy in London 2001-2003 and Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to a number of countries, including Israel, Austria, Sweden and Denmark. He was Kazakhstan’s permanent representative to OSCE between 2007 and 2013 and chaired the OSCE Permanent Council in 2010. From 2013 to 2016, he was Kazakhstan’s Permanent Representative to the UN after which he served as Foreign Minister in 2016-2018, representing his country on the United Nations Security Council in 2017-2018 during Kazakhstan’s term as a non-permanent member – the first Central Asian country to hold that position. He currently serves as OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities.

MICHAEL GIFFORD OBE

Thirty years of diplomatic relations – and multiple relationships Michael Gifford OBE Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Republic of Kazakhstan 2018-2021

Anyone who is lucky enough – as I have been over the past three years – to have a bird’s eye view of the relationship between the United Kingdom and Kazakhstan, cannot fail to be struck by its depth and diversity. Indeed, it is perhaps a mistake to think in terms of just one relationship, managed and controlled by the British and Kazakh governments. Of course, both governments take a great deal of care to develop and consolidate our diplomatic links, and that is evident in the various official visits, conferences and other initiatives which have taken place over the 30 years since Kazakhstan’s Independence. It is more accurate to say, however, that there are multiple relationships between the UK and Kazakhstan, including political, economic, cultural, educational and military. Each of these has been built up over time by thousands of separate decisions of ministers, officials, companies, institutions and individuals in both countries. Decisions such as whether to pursue a trade or investment opportunity, or whether to study abroad, or even whether to go on holiday and explore the Scottish Glens or the Kolsai Lakes – all of these make up a rich and varied picture. In some cases, individual decisions lead to a lifelong involvement with the other country. A good example is how, as part of our consular responsibilities to UK nationals overseas, the British Embassy in Nur-Sultan posts on the noticeboard in our public reception the names of British and Kazakh nationals intending to marry. It was always a cheering sight for me, when coming in to work in the morning, to see one of these notices – evidence of direct links of the most personal kind!

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Despite the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy, the UK’s trading relationship with Kazakhstan remains substantial. In the four quarters to the end of June 2021, total trade between the UK and Kazakhstan in goods and services (i.e. exports plus imports) was £1.4 billion, of which UK exports to Kazakhstan were £777 million and our imports from Kazakhstan were £631 million. While these figures have been higher in the past, Kazakhstan is still an important market for many UK firms, and the UK remains one of its leading sources of inward investment. As our economies recover from the damage of the COVID-19 pandemic, and UK exporters look for their next market opportunity, it is worth noting that, according to the IMF, the Kazakh economy will grow by 3.7% in 2021 and will continue to recover. At the same time, the Kazakh government continues to make important reforms in its business and investment environment. Furthermore, Kazakhstan remains stable and secure. So, the prospects for growth in trade and investment between the UK and Kazakhstan are encouraging. Most UK exports to Kazakhstan are services, which reflects Kazakhstan’s economic needs, as well as the strength of that sector of the UK economy, and the importance of the City of London as the pre-eminent global centre for financial and professional services. First President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s strategic decision to establish the Astana International Financial Centre as the first in the former Soviet Union to operate according to English Common Law has led to close cooperation between the UK and Kazakhstan on legal and arbitration matters. The AIFC is an economic project of the highest importance, and is going from strength to strength, with over 850 arbitration awards and judgements handed down – all enforced successfully in Kazakhstan – and AIFC procedures reflected in some 4,000 commercial contracts. Its links with the City of London and the English legal system give a sense of confidence and predictability to Kazakhstan’s foreign investors and trading partners. The Chief Justice of the AIFC, Lord Mance, is a distinguished former Deputy

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President of the Supreme Court of the UK. All the AIFC court justices are British, as is the head of its arbitration centre. The British government has supported the AIFC from the outset, including by funding specific projects through TheCityUK on issues such as corporate governance and green finance. There have also been successful English law summits in Kazakhstan supported by the Law Society of England and Wales. Political relations between the UK and Kazakhstan are strong. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs conduct an annual ministerial level ‘strategic dialogue’, which is an opportunity to discuss global and foreign policy issues. Although our political systems are different, and we do not necessarily agree on every issue that comes up, these set piece occasions are a chance to compare notes at a senior level and agree common approaches where possible. They are supplemented by the regular conversations that UK and Kazakh officials have on specific bilateral, regional or global issues. These can range from the latest issues at the UN Security Council to questions of human rights or emerging security threats. Kazakhstan’s strategic location at the heart of Eurasia, with Russia and China as its neighbours, means that it has a unique insight into regional affairs, which the UK and other countries need to tap into. Kazakhstan has been a valued and consistent supporter of Global Britain, and following the UK’s departure from the European Union, the two countries have been negotiating a new Strategic Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (SPCA). This new agreement will set out afresh the areas of cooperation which the two governments will explore to deepen our strategic partnership still further. During the November 2021 visit to Glasgow of the Kazakh Prime Minister, HE Askar Mamin, for the COP 26 summit, the UK and Kazakhstan re-committed to their strategic partnership, based on mutual trust, shared values and effective cooperation. I hope that the new agreement will become a reality in 2022. The UK strongly supports the Kazakhstan government’s efforts on economic and political reform, which have been so much a feature of the past 30 years. Continued reform is essential in such a fast-changing international environment. The

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economic reforms begun by First President Nursultan Nazarbayev have been continued by his successor, President Tokayev. The President’s creation in 2020 of the Supreme Council on Reform was an important step in pushing this process forward, and the appointment of Sir Suma Chakrabarti as its Deputy Chairman is another illustration of how the Kazakh government often turns to the UK for expertise and advice. The UK Embassy in Nur-Sultan implements various projects in Kazakhstan, designed to support the government’s positive reform efforts. All of these are based on the principle of support for Kazakhstan’s security, sovereignty and prosperity and are delivered through trusted partners. Past examples have included: a project in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to combat gender-based violence in Central Asia; human rights training for Kazakh lawyers conducted by the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales; and funding for long-term international observers from the OSCE to monitor and report on Kazakhstan’s parliamentary elections, held in January 2021. People are occasionally surprised to learn that the UK has a modest but thriving military cooperation relationship with Kazakhstan and the other countries of the region. But it should really come as no surprise, given the UK’s global foreign policy and our support for the stability and security of Central Asia. In recent years, we have provided expert military training on building integrity for senior leaders, and on human rights in conflict situations. In 2020 the British Army’s 77 Brigade delivered a successful military gender advisers’ course in Almaty, which is already influencing the approach to UN Peacekeeping Operations carried out by Kazakhstan and other Central Asian partners. The cornerstone of our military cooperation with Central Asia is the annual ‘Steppe Eagle’ training exercise, which first took place nearly 20 years ago and which is undertaken with the US, Canada and other partner nations. The emphasis of this exercise is now on training for UN Peacekeeping Operations, something to which Kazakhstan, to its great credit, is firmly committed. Kazakhstan has provided troops to the UNIFIL peacekeeping operation in Lebanon, and has ambition to do more.

MICHAEL GIFFORD OBE

Kazakhstan, like the UK, is an outward-facing, market-oriented country, for which international security and prosperity are high on the agenda. As such, it faces many of the same global challenges as the UK, perhaps the most urgent of which is tackling global climate change. The UK and Kazakhstan both recognize that doing this is fundamentally in the interests of everyone: we need concerted global action to produce clean air, healthier communities, sustainable economic growth, energy security and a safer, more stable climate. As countries move beyond reliance on fossil fuels, clean growth represents the most significant economic growth opportunity of the 21st century. This means that economic decisions taken now will have far-reaching consequences, as we try to achieve a green and resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The UK is a global leader in tackling and adapting to climate change, and in November 2021 we hosted the UN Climate Summit COP26 in Glasgow, bringing together the global community to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. In preparation for this crucial global event, the UK has had numerous conversations and exchanges with Kazakhstan to better understand each other’s positions. The UK government has also provided project support for Kazakhstan in climate research and green finance. In December 2020, President Tokayev told the Climate Ambition summit (co-hosted by the UK): “The fight against climate change is both urgent and existential. As a landlocked and a developing state, Kazakhstan is highly vulnerable to climate change. In the last thirty years, we have come far in terms of our development. However, our economy still relies on fossil fuels. Therefore, we have no choice but to face the twin challenges of refocusing our economy away from fossil fuels and tackling climate change simultaneously.” President Tokayev’s pledge to reach carbon neutrality by 2060, and Kazakhstan’s signature of key international commitments such as the Glasgow leaders’ declaration on forests and land use, represent important shifts in policy that the UK fully supports. Decarbonising its economy while promoting green growth represents a huge challenge for Kazakhstan, with its well-known reliance on fossil fuels. Its climate change commitments,

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alongside similar pledges by other countries, will help bring us closer to achieving the Paris Agreement climate goals, on which so much depends. Following the UK Government’s decision to end direct financial and promotional support for the fossil fuel energy sector overseas, the Department for International Trade has transformed this part of its work in Kazakhstan to focus on clean growth and lowcarbon technologies – something in which the UK is a world leader. It is perhaps in education that the deepest UK links with Kazakhstan lie. For many years, Kazakhs have studied in the UK at all levels. Some 1,700 Kazakhstanis are studying in the UK at any one time. In higher education, they are attracted by the extraordinary range of opportunities on offer: over 30,000 different degree courses at 165 higher education institutions, and the highest standards of education, research and teaching excellence and knowledge exchange. Our long-standing partner, the Bolashak Presidential Scholarship Scheme, has sponsored many students. Others achieve their success through the UK government’s own Chevening Scholarship programme, which each year sponsors future Kazakh leaders in their professional fields to continue their educational journey in the UK. The British Council, the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities, takes the lead on much of this work, and is a key institution for building long-term trust in the UK overseas. The Council works throughout Kazakhstan with central and local government, educational establishments, business and other partners, to enable professionals and young people to gain international skills and qualifications that will help them prosper and build a better future. It delivers many thousands of British examinations and IELTS English language assessments across Kazakhstan each year. The British Council is also a prominent partner for developing the creative economy in Kazakhstan and Central Asia – its annual Creative Central Asia conference is a fantastically inspiring event, which brings together the best creative leaders in the UK and the region to share ideas, innovations and to develop collaboration. In all, the British Council has supported over 60 university and 34 school partnerships between Kazakhstan and the UK and over 90,000 people follow the British Council’s

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digital channels in Kazakhstan. The British Council also works with the government of Kazakhstan to reform and modernize English language teaching throughout the education system. This has included conducting research for the Ministry of Education and Science into the state of English language teaching in Kazakh schools and into the professional development training needs of teachers of English. Finally, the British Council supports the Kazakh government’s economic modernisation and diversification drive through initiatives to reform educational practice, develop entrepreneurial skills among young people and hence improve their employability prospects. A good example of this is the Chevron-funded social enterprise training programme in Atyrau, through which some 1,500 young people have been trained in organising businesses that will bring economic and social benefits to their communities. Education is a crucial element of the UK’s ‘offer’ to Kazakhstan. I was therefore delighted, after leaving Kazakhstan at the end of my time there as British Ambassador, to take up the job of Chairman of the Board of Governors of De Montfort University Kazakhstan, which officially opened in Almaty on 3 November 2021. The first ever British university with a campus in Kazakhstan, DMUK offers students easier access to a British university undergraduate or postgraduate degree - at an affordable price. DMUK will have the highest quality academic standards and rigour, fully in line with those of our partner, De Montfort University Leicester. The aim is to produce ‘work-ready’ graduates, with not only strong academic qualifications, but also the skills and experience to accelerate their career in today’s competitive job market. I hope that this brief survey of some of the highlights of our relationship will contribute to a wider understanding of the importance of Kazakhstan to the UK, and vice versa. A 2020 survey by IPSOS MORI of perceptions of the UK among 18-34 year old Kazakhs found that the British were the third most trusted people worldwide (after Russia and Turkey) and the UK had the third most trusted foreign government (after Russia and Japan). But the survey also showed that young people in Kazakhstan have many other international choices for education, business, cultural experiences and tourism. So, while

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there is a solid foundation of UK-Kazakh relations for diplomats and others to build on, there is also more to be done. I offer Kazakhstan my warmest congratulations on its 30th Anniversary year, and I am confident that the strategic partnership with the United Kingdom will continue to develop and deepen in the years ahead.

Michael Gifford’s early career in the Diplomatic Service embraced postings to Abu Dhabi, Oslo, Brussels and Riyadh. He was Deputy Head of Mission in Cairo between 2001 and 2004, following which he was Ambassador to Sana’a until 2007. He served as Ambassador to Pyongyang between 2012 and 2015, and as Ambassador to Kazakhstan in 2018-21. Following his retirement from the Diplomatic Service he took up the position of Chairman of the Board of Governors of De Montfort University Kazakhstan.

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UK-Kazakh relations: seizing future opportunities Her Excellency Kathy Leach Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Republic of Kazakhstan since August 2021

Some 30 years ago, I flew into the Soviet Union as a university languages student on my year abroad. Like pretty much everyone else, it never crossed my mind that just a few months later, I would be flying out of just one of 15 sovereign, independent states. Observing a political and economic system collapse, from the vantage point of the family who were kind enough to host me during those profoundly uncertain times, was an extraordinary, humbling experience. It is an immense honour to return with my own family 30 years later to one of those new states, as Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Kazakhstan, in time to celebrate this significant anniversary in person. As others in this volume describe, from that most difficult start the achievement of Kazakhstan’s First President, Nursultan Nazarbayev, and the people of Kazakhstan in rebuilding their state and their prosperity over the past 30 years, has been truly remarkable. Kazakhstan has become a Eurasian powerhouse. A series of early strategic decisions proved critical for Kazakhstan’s success. These included giving up its nuclear arsenal and creating an activist, multi-vector, peace-oriented foreign policy; opening up its tremendous but technically formidable oil and gas reserves to an international coalition of companies and creating the business environment to sustain successful inward investment; promoting a confidently multiethnic, multi-faith, multi-lingual state; and investing in its next generation, sending its best students to the best universities in the world. 101

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Others in these pages have described Kazakhstan’s success in implementing these strategic goals – and, of course, the important role our close UK-Kazakh partnership has played in supporting them. Our new 2021 Strategic Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, encompassing key priorities and bilateral mechanisms (including the InterGovernmental Commission on trade, the Business Council and the Ministerial Strategic Dialogue) reflects the breadth and depth of the partnership we have built and gives us the strongest possible foundation for taking it forward. This is important because history teaches us that what has driven success in the past is not necessarily a guide to the future. Imagining the future is, of course, fraught with difficulty. The Covid pandemic of 2020-21 has demonstrated how quickly longstanding certainties can be overturned. What is certain is that both the UK and Kazakhstan will find themselves facing new challenges over the next 30 years. For the UK, our exit from the European Union will be a generational project of transformation, giving us the chance to fundamentally review and further strengthen our global competitiveness, our bilateral and multilateral relationships and our ability to seize future opportunities all over the world. For Kazakhstan, the 2019 election of its second President offers the opportunity, as President Tokayev has made clear, for both continuity but also progress, forging a new political and economic path in line with the needs and expectations of Kazakhstan’s people and the demands of a changing world. The UK’s Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, published in March 2021, sets out the broader strategic context in which these immediate political challenges are likely to unfold over the next 10-30 years. It highlights a number of key risks and opportunities: •

geopolitical and geo-economic shifts as China’s economic and political muscle increases, the role of the wider Indo-Pacific in global prosperity and security becomes ever more important, and demographic growth shifts decisively to Africa;

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rapid technological change reshaping our economies and therefore our societies, bringing prosperity and opportunity for many – albeit creating losers too – and driving change in the relationships between the citizen, the private sector and the state;

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transnational challenges including not only the defining 21st century challenge of climate change and the destruction of biodiversity, global health risks, including pandemics, water shortages and pollution, as well as migration, organised crime and terrorism.

In facing these challenges, I see a strong UK-Kazakhstan partnership as vital for both countries, including, primarily, regional and multilateral co-operation and Kazakhstan’s domestic economic and political reform. Kazakhstan, as a unique Eurasian power of immense size, international outlook and capability, and virtually every energy source, metal, mineral and rare earth under the sun, should belong squarely within the regional ‘Indo-Pacific tilt’ outlined in the UK’s recent Integrated Review. In its neighbourhood, encompassing the restless, ambitious powers of Russia and China, and the arc of instability from Syria through to Afghanistan, Kazakhstan is a beacon of stability, critical – from the UK’s perspective – to the prosperity, security and connectivity of the Eurasian region. Kazakhstan’s leadership in forging greater cooperative interstate relations with its neighbours will be key to helping the region manage these external pressures and benefit from its strategic position. We must also work together to ensure important, new institutions, such as the Astana International Financial Centre, are well-placed to take on an increasingly regional role, positioning Kazakhstan as a key economic hub for the wider Eurasian space. On regional security, with the UK and its coalition allies finally withdrawing troops from Afghanistan after 20 years, we will look to build closer security cooperation with Kazakhstan in tackling terrorism and extremism, in addition to further strengthening our existing defence cooperation, to support UN peace operations in other theatres around the world. The integration of the UK’s development and diplomatic functions in 2020 also 103

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increases the opportunities for aid cooperation, including in vital areas for the region like air pollution and water scarcity, as KazAid develops an increasingly significant profile. At a multi-lateral level, the UK believes strongly that openness to the flow of trade, capital, ideas and talent is essential to our and, indeed, every country’s long-term prosperity. But open societies also depend on the effective function of the international order and fair rules of the game, to defend themselves from malign actors. We remain deeply committed to the strengthening, and where necessary, reshaping multilateral institutions. This is particularly important in frontier areas where the existing rules of the road may be inadequate, such as cyber and space, areas of key interest to Kazakhstan too. In multilateral fora Kazakhstan will be an important partner. It has consistently demonstrated its commitment to playing an active, constructive role on the international stage, from its chairmanship of the OSCE to its non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council, and its many important initiatives, including hosting peace talks on conflicts in Syria and Afghanistan. The past 18 months or so have also demonstrated the importance of global scientific cooperation, as scientists have raced to find vaccines capable of combating new strains of COVID. Extraordinary medical advances have been made, not least in Kazakhstan, one of only a small number of countries who have managed to develop, test and operationalise their own domestic vaccine, QazVac. It is clear that accelerating equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines, treatments and tests worldwide is the fastest route to recovery, including through the UN’s COVAX programme. But we also need to focus on the necessary international collaboration and architecture required to prevent the next pandemic, and other potentially devastating future health challenges, such as anti-microbial resistance. Working together to make this multilateral architecture as effective as possible will be crucial. No political or economic system can stand still. Both the UK and Kazakhstan are looking to reform and modernise their economies, using clean, green technology as a

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driver for investment, economic diversification and high quality jobs. Clean growth, on some estimates, could deliver global economic growth worth some $26 trillion by 2030. At the same time, the demand for responsive public services, transparent governance, robust democratically accountable institutions and the effective implementation of rule of law is ever growing from an increasingly well-connected, well-informed population. Kazakhstan’s laudable goal is to join the ranks of the world’s 30 most developed economies by 2050. This important target provides a clear OECD roadmap for many areas of collaboration, and on many indices – Ease of Doing Business, Entrepreneurship, Innovation – Kazakhstan’s momentum into the top 30 is clear. The UK has its own lessons to share from its reform efforts: from privatisation of government assets, to digitalising public services; from promoting gender equality, to developing executive education to meet the demand for an increasingly skilled and professional civil service. Indeed, over the past two years President Tokayev has highlighted the development of human capital as the most important indicator for his state’s success in the coming years, and this is an area in which the UK is a natural partner. In addition to the thousands of Bolashak students who have studied in the UK, over 12 British universities already partner with Kazakh universities on skills and entrepreneurship development – and we are hopeful we will shortly see the first ever UK university campus in Kazakhstan. Supported by the British Council, education will be a vital area for growth in our future partnership. Focussing further on climate change – the single most important international priority facing both our countries to 2030 and beyond – in November 2021 the UK hosted the largest global conference in its history, COP26, the world’s last best chance to keep global warming in check. I am pleased to say COP26 succeeded in its main goal – to ‘keep 1.5 alive’. That means collectively we managed to agree steps to accelerate action to keep the world within sight of no more than 1.5 degrees of global warming, and to define more clearly the path towards net zero global carbon emissions.

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For Kazakhstan, which has built its prosperity in large part on its abundant oil, gas and coal reserves, this is exceptionally challenging. Nevertheless, President Tokayev announced at the December 2020 Climate Ambition Summit that Kazakhstan would pledge to reach carbon neutrality no later than 2060. In Glasgow, Prime Minister Mamin added to this by highlighting further targets from Kazakhstan’s developing Carbon Neutrality Doctrine, including the phase out of coal by 2050. Together these are transformative targets, a powerful signal of President Tokayev’s commitment to developing low-carbon sustainable growth. There is, in fact, huge potential for Kazakhstan to improve both its energy efficiency and intensity, as well as to generate much of its power from renewable sources, with studies suggesting almost half its territory could be suitable for on-shore wind generation, two-thirds solar suitable. The government’s plans to increase the share of renewable energy to 15 per cent by 2030 and 50 per cent by 2050 recognises this. Our ambitious climate change targets will be transformative, too, for the UKKazakhstan relationship, since for the past 30 years our trade and investment relationship has been dominated by UK companies’ successful involvement in Kazakhstan’s extractives sector. However, as the world makes the necessary transition to green energy sources, so too must the focus of our relationship. Instead of further upstream oil and gas or thermal coal projects, we will instead seek to partner Kazakhstan as it diversifies away from fossil fuels, and look to develop our countries’ green finance offers to support this transition. This means both the development of Kazakhstan’s considerable renewables potential, as well as the exploitation of other mineral reserves, such as rare earths for next-generation battery manufacture. Many of these reserves remain untapped and could prove crucial in the global transition to a low carbon economy. In parallel, we want to further diversify our interests in Kazakhstan’s economy across many other sectors such as agriculture, education, financial and professional services, and healthcare. The Astana International Financial Centre’s offer to underpin wider Eurasian commercial interests, with the option to sign contracts under English law, will be a key enabler across all these important sectors.

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In addition, our ambition in the Integrated Review is for the UK to further develop its strategic advantage as one of the world’s leading tech nations, a global science and research superpower. We have much to offer Kazakhstan in both industry and academia, through worldclass tech capability across renewables, smart cities/transport, health technology, and the digitalisation of manufacturing. We are also developing our own global fleet of satellites, through our strategic investment in OneWeb, realising our ambition to position the UK at the cutting edge of the latest advances in space technology – with some help from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. I want to mention one final very important change taking place in Kazakhstan; its demography. Kazakhstan is a young country: 51 per cent of its population is aged under 29, the majority living in urban areas. For Kazakhstan’s Millennials and Generation Z, their country has always been a confident, thriving state. The revival of the Kazakh language and cultural identity within a multilingual, multi-ethnic state is part of this – young people often speak at least three languages, Kazakh, Russian and English. Through social media, they are developing an increasingly global outlook in culture, fashion, social issues and politics. Millennial entrepreneurship is on the rise, with innovative thought turning into successful businesses. More and more young people see themselves as entrepreneurs, independent experts, freelancers and creators. A renewed, strengthened partnership between the UK and Kazakhstan will not only happen through official channels, important though they are – but also bottom up, through the many business, cultural, and social interactions which connect our young people. In particular, as well as welcoming – in normal times – many thousands of Kazakh tourists to the UK, I am keen to make sure that in the coming years more UK tourists come to explore the dramatic landscapes and extraordinary sweep of ancient to modern history which Kazakhstan has to offer. As we celebrate the 30th anniversary of our diplomatic relations and Kazakhstan’s independence, I have a strong sense of optimism.

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Working in partnership and trust, the opportunities of the next 30 years are there for us both to seize. I am looking forward to working with government, business, civil society, and students to help shape this vision together. I congratulate Kazakhstan on the 30th Anniversary of its independence and wish all its people peace, prosperity, health and happiness in the years ahead. Қазақстан Республикасының Тәуелсізідігіне 30 жыл толу мерейтойымен құттықтай отырып, болашақта әрбір қазақстандықтарға бейбітшілік, байлық, зор денсаулық және бақыт тілеймін!

Her Excellency Kathy Leach was appointed Ambassador to Kazakhstan in August 2021 immediateky prior to which she served as Deputy Director, Constitution and Devolution, Europe Directorate in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Her previous overseas postings included Moscow (2001-2004) as a First Secretary, Tokyo (2007-2011) as Head of the Energy and Environment Team and as Ambassador to Armenia (2012-2015).

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Thirty Years of Steppe Diplomacy His Excellency Erlan Idrissov Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the United Kingdom since February 2017

It is a great privilege for me to serve as the Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the United Kingdom when we celebrate the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Kazakhstan and the UK. The last thirty years have witnessed the organic growth of strong ties and friendship between our two countries as they built – and continue to build – a comprehensive strategic relationship of mutual value and significance. Today’s global world is more closely wired than ever before, bringing both great international benefits, as well as major potential challenges, such as political, financial or public health contagions which can rapidly grip countries thousands of miles apart. As such, I would argue that never before in history has the role of friendship, trust and understanding been so important between countries, and, by implication, never before has the role of politicians and diplomats been so paramount in fostering prosperous and peaceful relations. Kazakhstan’s foreign policy is, as is widely recognised, founded on multi-vectorism – a specific term for a simple philosophy: we seek national and international peace and prosperity through close friendships at all points of the compass. Our strategic partnership with the UK is a clear and very successful case in point. In my opinion Kazakh multi-vectorism owes its origins to ancient “steppe diplomacy” mastered by Kazakhs’ nomadic ancestors who lived in a vast area of land criss-crossed by multiple groups of people with whom they sought to live peacefully, sharing economic life, ideas and culture. I truly believe that many centuries later “steppe diplomacy” still runs strongly through

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the blood of Kazakhs, and, indeed, at a personal level, it was one of the forces which drew me towards a career in the diplomatic service of my country more than thirty years ago. Fate decreed that much of my time in that capacity would be spent in the UK, a country itself where many different routes – physical, virtual, metaphorical – meet between countries, peoples, financial institutions, markets, judicial systems, cultures… and much else. An ideal place, indeed, for latter-day “steppe diplomats” with a passion for multivectorism to be based! In total so far I have served as Ambassador to London for roughly the equivalent of one-third of Kazakhstan’s time as independent country, and during my two terms as Foreign Minister the UK relationship was also often one of the key items on my agenda. Moreover, my five years as Ambassador to the United States also brought with it elements of the latter’s relationship with its close trans-Atlantic friend. When I first came to London as Ambassador in 2002 relations between Kazakhstan and the UK were already well-founded. Kazakhstan’s collaboration during its first decade of independence with Russia, the United States and the UK to facilitate the removal of our huge, inherited arsenal of nuclear weapons decisively neutralised potential instability and uncertainty in Kazakhstan’s relations with the rest of the world. Kazakhstan’s unilateral nuclear disarmament was a core element in the overall diplomatic equation which resulted in Russia, the US and the UK signing the Budapest Memorandum in December 1994. This guaranteed newly-independent Kazakhstan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and was a fundamental trust-building milestone in relations with all the partner nations, including the UK. During the first decade, the remarkable potential of the Caspian energy resources attracted huge UK interest and UK universities had become a very popular destination for Kazakh students studying abroad with the support of President Nazarbayev’s statefunded Bolashak scholarship programme In 2002 our new national carrier, Air Astana, was launched as a joint venture between Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund, Samruk Kazyna, and BAE Systems. Taken together, all this was, indeed, a sound platform from which Kazakhstan and the

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UK could accelerate the building of closer relations at the outset of the new Millennium. But ten years – as it was then – had been very short time for Kazakhstan to become well-known to people in the UK (and, of course, elsewhere) much beyond politicians, diplomats, and direct industrial and other stakeholders in the relationship with my country. So it was very important to increasingly broaden and deepen knowledge and understanding of Kazakhstan in so many different places, including the Houses of Parliament, across the entire arc of UK industry and commerce, in the City of London and throughout other major cities and places of educational and research excellence. This was an important relationship-building policy in itself, but with major strategic relevance to Kazakhstan’s long-term economic and social development objectives. Already in the early years of the new Millennium Kazakhstan was acutely aware of the need to use its vast natural resource wealth not just as a source of income, but as an effective means by which it could leverage long-term economic growth and resilience through modernisation and industrial diversification, and build the institutions of a modern, new state. And, to do so, whilst simultaneously developing modern health, educational, housing and other social services to systemically improve the quality and standard of living of the Kazakh people. It was important to reaffirm our strong message in the UK – and, of course, around the world – that Kazakhstan had ambitious plans to pursue an holistic, comprehensive development strategy which both required and also facilitated broader and deeper international engagement. In 2002 we established the British-Kazakh Society with President Nursultan Nazarbayev as its Patron and the UK Ambassador to Kazakhstan and the Kazakh Ambassador to the UK its Honorary Presidents. Over the years, the Society – which remains very active – has made a major contribution to the bilateral relationship by increasingly diversifying its focus from such traditionally core subject areas as hydrocarbons and other primary resources to include ever-growing sectors of new strategic importance, including, amongst many others, financial services, renewable energy, green industries, and legal and judicial practises.

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Through both of my terms as Ambassador I have initiated and encouraged many projects and events to expand knowledge of Kazakhstan – and various opportunities which could increasingly flow from closer relations between our two countries. These have covered a wide range of subjects from foreign direct investment and economic events to different publications which depicted the natural beauty of my country from the awe-inspiring Northern Tien-Shan Mountains to the mysterious attraction of the endless steppe. Such engagement tools played their role. In particular, raising awareness of Kazakhstan’s rich history and cultural traditions, as well as its modern achievements in music, poetry and arts, became a uniquely valuable diplomatic currency and strong binding force between Kazakhstan and its many friends in the UK, and elsewhere. Indeed, I have always regarded Kazakhstan’s writers, poets, composers, musicians, singers as my colleagues – cultural ambassadors who communicate in their own inimitable ways what it means to be Kazakh and our identity as a people, thereby building a better understanding of Kazakhstan’s place in today’s world, and the future world we wish to help create. So, over the years and amidst many such events, audiences, for example, have been thrilled by the magnificent performances of our musicians, including the Kazakh Philharmonic Chamber at London’s Cadogan Hall, and the brilliant Kazakh violinist Marat Bisengaliev, performing Inception by the Kazakh composer Yerkesh Shakeyev at St. Luke’s Church in London’s Islington accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra. In 2019, The Kazakhstan Film Week took place in London showcasing the best of Kazakh cinematography ranging from early epics such as Amangeldy (1939) about the leader of the 1916 Kazakh Revolutionary leader Amangeldy Imanov, Nomad (2005) which was Kazakhstan’s official entry in to the Best Foreign Language Film Category at the 79th Academy Awards and Kunanbai (2015), the story of the father of Kazakhstan’s greatest poet Abai. More contemporaneously the Film Week also featured Ayka (2018) a docu-drama made by Kazakh director Sergey Dvortsevoy, which tells the story of a young homeless single mother in Moscow played by the Kazakh actress Samal Yeslyamova, a role for

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which she won the Best Actress Award at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. As part of Kazakhstan’s global cultural “assault” in November 2019, I had the great pleasure of introducing Kazakhstan’s Abai Kazakh State Ballet Theatre to a packed house at London’s Coliseum during their first visit to the UK. Around the same time, London also played host to an altogether different style of performance by the student jazz band of the College of the Kazakh National University of Arts – again another first appearance in the UK – which combined popular international hits with jazz-based renditions of Kazakh folk songs such as Iligai and Sugirdin Termesi. Much else has happened in the UK as part of our cultural campaign. Of great significance in 2020 was the marking of the 175th Anniversary of the birth of our greatest poet and founder of written Kazakh literature Abai Kunanbaiuly with the publication by the Cambridge University Press and the Embassy of Kazakhstan of the first-ever complete English-language anthology of Abai’s works translated by the poet Sean O’Brien – enabling the richness of this great Kazakh heritage to reach a wider audience. Additionally, two anthologies of selected Kazakh creative writers of poetry and prose are also now available for the first time in English as part of an initiative by First President Nazarbayev, designed to preserve and communicate Kazakhstan’s cultural identity in today’s modern world. Both anthologies were produced in partnership between the Kazakh Ministry of Culture and Sport, the Kazakh National Bureau of Translation and Cambridge University Press. Indeed, Cambridge continues to feature significantly in our cultural efforts. It was here at the Fitzwilliam Museum where I recently had the enormous privilege of opening the Gold of the Great Steppe exhibition containing UK-Kazakhstan archaeological discoveries and research from three different burial complexes in East Kazakhstan, Berel, Shilikti and Eleke Sazy, uniquely illuminating the life and legacy of the Saka people, and exploring their points of resonance with Kazakh culture today. The excavations were led by Kazakh archaeologists who collaborated with scientists at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge where the artefacts provided much new information following the application of the

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latest non-invasive technology. Meanwhile, Kazakh culture days have seen yurts erected on the Thames Embankment surrounded by stalls of Kazakh food and drinks, whilst musicians summoned up the ancient rhythms and sounds of the steppe on their dombras – traditional long-necked string instruments. And, perhaps the most eye-catching of all, ancient nomadic Batyrs or warriors, twometres tall and in their full traditional regalia, have been seen mixing with the crowds in Trafalgar Square and in front of Buckingham Palace… Culture and education, of course, move together in close proximity. The Bolashak scholarship programme has continued to bring many young Kazakhs to UK universities, where they have helped create Kazakh societies open to all students and expand the circles of knowledge about Kazakhstan and its culture. For instance, the ancient Kazakh festival of the Spring – Nauryz – is these days celebrated at a number of UK universities, including University College London and Cambridge. Indeed, as the seasons morph from Winter to Spring, traditional and modern Kazakh music, songs and dances combine to channel collective hope for warmer weather in the UK! Returning more directly to the line of travel of the Kazakh-UK relationship itself, a key milestone in its evolution took place during my first term as Ambassador with the state visit of President Nazarbayev in November 2006. The President, of course, had visited the UK on many previous occasions, but this visit witnessed some significant changes in emphasis in talks and events which pointed towards new areas of potential co-operation. Relations with the City of London, for example, were high on the agenda with the President as the guest of honour at a packed event of City officials and leading bankers and financial service providers at Mansion House – not only promoting Kazakhstan as a destination for foreign direct investment, but also scoping out the country’s future vision of becoming more closely involved in the world’s financial market architecture. Also in talks with Prime Minister Tony Blair and other political leaders, there was a greater emphasis on discussions of Kazakhstan’s current and potential aspirations on

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regional and international arenas, including Kazakhstan’s bid to chair the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (which it successfully achieved in 2010 in part due to UK support) and its longer term plans to become a member of the World Trade Organisation (which was achieved in 2015) – in other words laying the ground work for a greater Kazakh role on the global political stage with the support of its international friends. The year after President Nazarbayev’s visit to London, the Lord Mayor of the City of London, John Stuttard, led a business delegation to Kazakhstan amidst much discussion of the country’s plans to create a regional finance centre innovatively embracing English common law. When I returned to London as Ambassador in early 2017 the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) was moving purposefully towards its launch with much help and assistance from City institutions, including the CityUK and London Stock Exchange, as well as leading members of the UK legal profession. And, indeed, so was Astana Expo 2017 : Future Energy, with the UK Government and UK companies providing significant support. In fact, it had been planned that following Astana Expo 2017’s closure, AIFC would take over its site and infrastructure in the run-up to its formal opening in 2018. In recent years Kazakhstan and the UK have worked increasingly closely together in pursuit of common political and security objectives, including during Kazakhstan’s term as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council in 2017/18. Meanwhile, the Kazakh-UK strategic partnership is embedded in the solid diplomatic architecture of the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation (IGC) which meets annually at ministerial level. Moreover, the partnership is further supported by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Kazakhstan established in 2015 with members from both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Looking to the future there are several key areas where the two countries will undoubtedly be working closely together as friends and partners, including the singlemost important issue facing all countries – climate change. Kazakhstan was the only country to emerge from the former Soviet Union to

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participate in the Climate Ambition Summit hosted by the United Nations, the UK and France in December 2020 – which speaks to its commitment as a Central Asian nation willing and able to help make a difference in this critical area. President Tokayev has set a target of 2060 for Kazakhstan to reach carbon neutrality. Whilst this will not be easy for a young country much of whose wealth continues to spring from hydrocarbons and hosts many energy-intensive processing industries, but we are determined to address this great problem more as an opportunity to build better, greener infrastructure and ways of life. This culminated in Kazakh Prime Minister Askar Mamin’s participation in the landmark World Leaders Summit of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, where he confirmed our country’s commitment to joining the global race to net zero. At the conference, Kazakhstan also joined two important UKsponsored documents – the Declaration on Forests and Land Use and the Commitment on Education and Youth Engagement. Another important bilateral outcome of COP26 was that the Kazakhstan and UK governments adopted a Joint Statement on Strategic Partnership and Joint Efforts to Respond to Climate Change. While emphasising stronger cooperation in environmental protection and decarbonisation of the economy, the Statement strongly aims at further cementing Kazakh-British multi-faceted strategic partnership in the years to come. This approach will undoubtedly generate many collaborative opportunities with UK corporate and financial institutions across the entire arc of the green economy. Such opportunities could also emerge in the context of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which could generate many new businesses involving UK, Kazakh, Chinese and other partners Indeed, I believe that whilst the New Silk Route has a definitive origin on China’s east coast and a well-defined 3000-kilometre corridor embracing much of the Old Silk Route across Kazakhstan, it lacks a logical geographical terminus in western Europe. Perhaps there is much more here for the economic architects of the new Global Britain to explore with their Kazakh partners? Of course, it is very difficult to recollect so many events and achievements which took place in our bilateral relations during my two terms as the Kazakh Ambassador

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in London. I therefore would like to conclude by expressing my sincere thanks and good wishes to all those from both Kazakhstan and the United Kingdom who have so generously contributed their thoughts and memories of events and experiences in which they were involved as our diplomatic relationship evolved into a strategic partnership and is now set fair to embrace new great opportunities of the next 30 years of the KazakhBritish strategic partnership.

His Excellency Erlan Idrissov is Ambassador for Kazakhstan to the United Kingdom, a position he has occupied since early 2017. He was also Ambassador to the United Kingdom between 2002 and 2007, when he was appointed Ambassador to the United States. He has served two terms as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan from 1999 to 2002 and 2012 to the end of 2016.

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