(Read the full article on atanatimes.com)

Australia and Kazakhstan have a lot more opportunities that remained untapped and though COVID-19 might have disrupted some of the plans, the will to develop cooperation is still there, said Ian Biggs, Assistant Secretary for Afghanistan & Regional Branch at Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, in an interview with The Astana Times.

Next year, Kazakhstan and Australia will celebrate 30 years of diplomatic relations. Australia was among the first countries to recognize the independence of Kazakhstan, said Biggs.

The two nations established diplomatic relations in June 1992 followed by numerous high-level visits, including then-Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s visit to Australia in 1996.

“We forge active bilateral relationships, based on common interests, trade, and investment ties, and people-to-people links. Among the major milestones that I could refer to include when then Governor-General Bill Hayden, visited Kazakhstan in 1994 to establish relations. Your former president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, visited Australia to deepen bilateral cooperation in 1996. We were able to sign an agreement on economic and commercial cooperation in 2004. We also concluded bilateral market access agreements on goods and services in 2008. And perhaps, best of all, the opening of the Consulate General of Kazakhstan in Sydney in 2015,” said Biggs in an interview.