OSCE highly commends outcomes of Kazakhstan's chairmanship in OSCE Economic and Environmental Committee

The Chairperson of the OSCE Economic and Environmental Committee (EEC), Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kazakhstan to OSCE, Ambassador Kairat Sarybay informed about the work done in 2019 and summed up the results of the outgoing year.

Over the past year, according to the work of the committee, four thematic meetings were held on such issues as disaster risk reduction; sustainable development; the impact of digital technologies on the economy and society, as well as the fight against corruption. Under the agenda item of sharing experiences and best practices on national policies at the meetings of the second committee issues of strengthening good governance and promoting connectivity; hazardous waste management; and improving the environmental footprint of energy-related activities were discussed.

EEC Chairperson, Ambassador Kairat Sarybay also praised the outcome of the concluding 27th OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum on the topic: «Promoting economic progress and security in the OSCE area through energy cooperation, new technologies, good governance and connectivity in the digital era» on September 11-13, 2019 in Prague and two Preparatory meetings that held in Vienna and Bratislava in Janury and May 2019 respectively.

In conclusion, due to completion of the three-year chairmanship of Kazakhstan in the OSCE EEC, kind gratitude was expressed to the Austrian, Italian and Slovak Chairmanships for the trust that had been extended to Kazakhstan to chair the Second Committee in 2017, 2018 and 2019, as well as all OSCE participating States, the Office of the Coordinator of Economic and Environmental activities of the OSCE and his staff for their support and close cooperation.

In turn, the delegations in their response statements highly appreciated the activities of Kazakhstan as Chair of the Economic and Environmental Committee and commended the significant contribution of Kazakhstan to strengthening the second «basket» of the OSCE for enhancing confidence-building measures, promoting constructive dialogue, reducing tension and preventing conflicts.

In 2019, representatives of state bodies, private sector, non-governmental and non-commercial organizations of the Republic of Kazakhstan actively participated in events of the second dimension of the OSCE.