Kazakhstan is considered as an active member in the international community, it works effectively in European and Asian bodies and organizations, as it has immediately joined Islamic Congress organization after its independence. It has growing relationships with many international institutions.
Kazakhstan adopts an external pragmatic multilateral politics, it tries to achieve balance in its international relations, stay away from regional hubs and has diplomatic relations with about 120 countries whereas Kazakhstan’s external Islamic policy was described as being too much flexible. How not and Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev announced in January 2011that till the next decade, the country’s external priorities and strategies will meet the hopes and aspirations of all their partners.
Kazakh government is interested in organizing external international stable relations with both East and West. Within this framework, the government could solve its border problems with Russia, China and other neighborhood and since 1993 it could attract more than 150 billion dollars of direct foreign investments, which constitute more than 80% of total investments in the economics of Central Asian countries as a whole.
Kazakhstan, which has recently gained its independence, could develop multilateral relations with major world powers, and held the presidency of important world organizations such as Islamic Cooperation Organization in the end of June 2011 and OSCE in 2010. The most important achievement is the organization summit, after stopping for 11 years, then Astana joint statement was signed to emphasize the commitment of all 56 countries of the organization to sustain cooperation in the organization framework.
One of the world achievements is winning recognition from USA and EC as a country having a market economy between 2001 and 2002 successively. It has also the membership in many important regional treaties such as Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Islamic Cooperation Organization.
Kazakhstan could develop fruitful bilateral relation of mutual benefit with major world powers such as neighboring Russia and China. Moreover, USA and EC recognized Kazakhstan as a country having market economy in 2001 and 2002 successively.
Being a member in many effective regional and international treaties, Kazakhstan offered many examples of its commitment with real international cooperation. One of the most obvious examples appears in the consistent efforts of Kazakhstan to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons worldwide, for in the beginning of 1990s of the last century, this country has given up its large stockpile of nuclear weapons which it inherited from Soviet Union.
Today we can see the results of Kazakhstan external stable and balanced politics through its presidency of large international organizations which have a long history and presence in world politics. Currently, Kazakhstan exerts efforts to play a leading role in Islamic world.
President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev clarified the aspects of this policy in the speech he delivered before the ambassadors on 18/1/2013, in which he mentioned that the year 2012 was the best among Kazakh diplomatic years, when his country had many achievements and launched a great number of initiatives to raise its stature in all fields, furthermore, the country achieved many gains including:
launch initiative of nuclear weapons and experiments free zones
Receive honor of organizing the international exhibition EXPO-2017
Receive membership of International Security Council for 2017 and 2018
Receive support of prime ministers of Islamic Cooperation Organization during session 39 in 2012
Share Federal Russia and White Russia in the two projects of Customs Union
Organize the fourth yearly regional congress of traditional and untraditional religions dialogue
Establish the association of independent countries of Eurasian Union.
Establish the collective security treaty organization, interaction conference and confidence-building measures in Asia
Raise the idea of (G-GLOBAL) group as a new form of world dialogue
Launch a new cultural initiative to bring closer between world cultures under the approval of UNESCO between 2013 and 2023
Bayev identified the features of the next period based on maintaining friendly relations and developing the policy of strategic partnership with neighboring countries (Federal Russia, China, and Central Asia countries)
Bayev called for strategic cooperation with USA, EC countries and other Asian countries
He has opened new horizons for cooperation with main countries in Africa and Latin America
Develop relations with countries speaking Turkish language and Islamic world.