AKIPRESS.COM - An official reception dedicated to the Independence Day of the Republic of Kazakhstan took place in Havana, the capital city of Cuba, on December 9, the press service of the Kazakh Foreign Ministry said.

Members of the Cuban Government and Parliament, representatives of the public and diplomatic corps accredited in Havana attended the event.

In his welcoming address, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Canada and Cuba Konstantin Zhigalov highlighted Kazakhstan’s significant socio-economic and political achievements, underscoring the main ideas of President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s state of the nation address “Nurly Zhol – path to the future”, delivered in November.

According to Mr. Zhigalov, this year Kazakhstan and Cuba have achieved significant progress in different areas of bilateral cooperation.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Yerzhan Ashikbayev, Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Science Aliya Galimova paid official visits to Havana.

The two countries signed bilateral agreements in the areas of education, sports.

The sides are actively strengthening ties in the areas of tourism, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, which were facilitated by a successful visit of the delegation of the Cuban leading state pharmaceutical company “Labiofam” to Almaty and Astana in May this year.

During the reception, the guests saw videos about Kazakhstan and received booklets with the Presidential “Nurly Zhol – path to the future” state of the nation address in Spanish and English languages.