AKIPRESS.COM - U.S. Ambassador John Ordway presented on November 24 eleven modular shelter complexes and related equipment, valued at $3,028,985, to the Kazakhstani Border Guard Service, the U.S Embassy in Kazakhstan said.

The hand-over ceremony took place at the border guard observation post, Cape Skalistyi in the Mangystau region. The modular shelter complexes will assist the Border Guard Service in extending their presence along previously unmanned sections of the border in the Mangystau region.

The Government of the United Kingdom generously donated this funding to allow the United States Export Control and related Border Security (EXBS) program to continue its ongoing capacity-building efforts with the Border Guards aimed at detecting and deterring illicit trafficking across the international borders of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The U.S. Department of State established the EXBS program in 2001 to assist in strengthening Kazakhstan’s strategic trade control system and establishing sustainable capabilities for border security agencies to interdict, investigate, and prosecute the illicit transfers of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), WMD-related materials, and advanced conventional arms. To date, EXBS has contributed $27 million of assistance as part of its commitment to assist Kazakhstan with its nonproliferation efforts.