Photo: H.E. Mr. Kanat Tumysh, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to South Africa, H.E. Dr. Messaoud Baaliouamer, Executive Secretary of the African Commission on Nuclear Energy (AFCONE), and Mr. Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Director: Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, Dirco
13 April 2022
H.E. Kanat Tumysh, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to South Africa held a trilateral meeting with H.E. Dr. Messaoud Baaliouamer, Executive Secretary of the African Commission on Nuclear Energy (AFCONE), and Mr. Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Director: Disarmament and Non-Proliferation of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation of the Republic of South Africa.
During the meeting, the Kazakh diplomat informed his colleagues that a draft Memorandum of Understanding between the Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (CANWFZ) and the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (AfNWFZ) was recently agreed upon.
He noted that the signing of this Memorandum and the exchange of its original legal versions will be an important step, which will set a good example for all the parties during the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference to be held in August 2022 in the backdrop of the current turbulent situation in the world.
Representatives of the AFCONE and the Foreign Office of South Africa, in turn, said that on 15 July 2022 in Pretoria will be held a high-level seminar on the theme, ‘Interaction between nuclear-weapon-free zones’ to be arranged in a hybrid format. They invited Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan (current Chair of the CANWFZ) sides to attend this important event.
The seminar will provide an opportunity for representatives of the nuclear-weapon-free zones to negotiate and exchange views on global non-proliferation, disarmament, and nuclear security, as well as the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
The parties agreed to continue mutually beneficial cooperation in these areas.
The Embassy of Kazakhstan in Pretoria