Erlan Idrissov, the non-resident Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the Republic of Ireland, presented his credentials to Michael D. Higgins, the President of Ireland on May 17 and conveyed to him the greetings of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev.

The Ambassador's meeting with the Irish President was held following a ceremony which focused on bilateral trade, economic and investment co-operation. It also centred on the development of bilateral relations in the areas of IT, digitisation, as well as education and innovation.

The Ambassador briefed President Higgins on the broad economic and political reforms taking place within Kazakhstan's modernisation programme. These included President Nazarbayev's State of the Nation address entitled 'New Opportunities under the Fourth Industrial Revolution'; the launch of the Astana International Financial Centre, the Centre for Green Technologies and the Astana International IT Startup Hub, all of which have now opened on the the premises of the EXPO 2017.

President Higgins praised Kazakhstan's development under the leadership of President Nazarbayev, as well as Kazakhstan's role in strengthening international peace and security.

The Ambassador's visit included meetings with Niall Burgess, Secretary General of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, F. Smith, Director, UN issues, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Irish businesses executives.

Representatives of Irish political and business circles stressed that Kazakhstan has become a key driver of economic development in Central Asia and a leader of many international projects, a centre for stability and integration, as well as a venue for global political and economic events.

Ambassador Idrissov once again thanked Ireland for its support for Kazakhstan's bid for membership in the UN Security Council and briefed the President on the fruitful results of Kazakhstan's work within the organisation. Ambassador Idrissov emphasised that given Ireland's experience in developing a unified governmental innovation management system, Kazakhstan is interested in cooperating on IT educational programmes and startups and innovations development. He also highlighted the need to further expand bilateral treaties.