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The leaders of the two countries discussed urgent bilateral and international issues.

Later Vladimir Putin and Nursultan Nazarbayev will take part in the 14^th Russia-Kazakhstan Interregional Cooperation Forum.

The forum’s theme is Human Resources Development. It will be attended by heads of key ministries and departments, several regional governors of Russia and Kazakhstan and representatives of large businesses of the two countries.

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Transcript of the beginning of the meeting with President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Nazarbayev, friends and colleagues,

Let me welcome you this time here in Chelyabinsk, not far from our border. I know – you have just told me – that you were touring the country.

President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev: Yes, I was in Kostanay, just 300 km away.

Vladimir Putin: Everything is close. We have a very good occasion for meeting – inter-regional cooperation. I remember it was your initiative to hold this event every year. It proved to be very successful and beneficial.

We are very glad to welcome you here in one of Russia’s industrial centres. Indeed, there are many contacts here between enterprises as well as at a personal level with Kazakhstan and the Kazakhs.

Welcome once again!

Nursultan Nazarbayev: Thank you, Mr Putin. Chelyabinsk is closely linked with my metallurgical student days. At one time I visited almost all the large enterprises here.

The Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Plant was the flagship of metallurgy not only in the Soviet Union but also the whole world. At that time it produced 20 million tonnes of steel – not a single plant produced that much.

We were studying and acquiring professions at the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant, the Pipe Rolling Plant and many other enterprises – this was an enormous centre.

I was pleased to come and it would be appropriate to recall that it was here that we agreed in 2002 to hold inter-regional forums each year.

I am very glad to meet you again this year. You are embarking on a long journey – to the APEC meeting in Vietnam. Have a good trip and I wish you every success with this important business.

Inter-regional cooperation is the basis of economic cooperation that is growing despite difficulties. In the past nine months our bilateral trade has grown by 31 percent.

I know that our ministries worked today on 30 inter-regional agreements. We will also sign another ten inter-governmental agreements.

Each meeting is a landmark and resolves a major task. I believe the current meeting will also play an important role in the cooperation between our countries.

Thank you for your invitation. I wish you every success at today’s meeting.

 Vladimir Putin: Thank you.

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