President Paul Kagame is expected to hold an official visit to Kazakhstan, from May 28 to 29, as both countries seek to strengthen bilateral relations. The visit was announced by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Olivier Nduhungirehe, who arrived in Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan, on Monday, May 26. Kagame is expected to hold talks with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, and several agreements will be signed by their respective delegations. Kagame was the first Rwandan President to visit Kazakhstan in 2015. He met with then-President Nursultan Nazarbayev. This was before the formal establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries that started with the accreditation of Rwanda’s first ambassador to Kazakhstan in 2016. On Monday, Nduhungirehe met with Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister Murat Nurtleu for talks on cooperation between Rwanda and the Central Asian country. Thank you, Deputy Prime Minister Murat Nurtleu, for the warm reception in your beautiful capital, Astana, and for the good exchange we had today, ahead of the official visit of President Paul Kagame to Kazakhstan,” Nduhungirehe wrote in a post on X. In a statement issued by the Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nduhungirehe and Nurtleu discussed a wide range of issues covering political, economic, cultural and humanitarian relations, with particular interest to establish cooperation in key sectors such as trade, logistics, the defence industry and digitalization. They emphasized developing transit and logistics routes between the two countries and their respective regions in light of the increasing role of Trans-Caspian International Transport Route in the interconnectedness of global markets. “We view Rwanda as a friendly country and vital partner in Africa,” Nurtleu was quoted as saying in the statement. I am confident that our joint efforts will ensure a successful visit of President Kagame, that will mark the beginning of a new chapter in Kazakh-Rwandan relations.” He also proposed organizing mutual trade missions to encourage business contacts and promote direct interaction between chambers of commerce in both countries.
