The publication is reproduced in full below:
FAREWELL TO AMBASSADOR KAZYKHANOV
______
HON. STEVE CHABOT
of ohio
in the house of representatives
Thursday, March 18, 2021
Mr. CHABOT. Madam Speaker, as co-chair of the U.S.-Kazakhstan Caucus, I rise today to bid farewell to Ambassador Erzhan Kazykhanov, who will be departing the United States at the end of this month and has faithfully served as Kazakhstan's Ambassador to the United States during the past four years. He will be greatly missed by myself and all who have had the pleasure of working with him. He has consistently shown a great sense of enthusiasm for the job as well as a deep appreciation for the importance of the U.S.- Kazakhstan bilateral relationship.
Ambassador Kazykhanov is a career diplomat who began his career in the Foreign Ministry's Protocol-Political Division. He was Chief of the Division before being assigned his first international posting as first secretary/counselor at Kazakhstan's Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York City, from 1995 to 2000. He then returned home to Kazakhstan to serve as the Director of the Department of Multilateral Cooperation from 2000 to 2003. Following that posting, he returned to New York City as Kazakhstan's Permanent Representative to the United Nations and as non-resident Ambassador to Cuba from 2003 to 2007.
Kazykhanov was then named Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and served as assistant to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In late 2008, he was posted to Austria to serve as Ambassador to Austria and Permanent Representative to international organizations located in Vienna, such as the International Atomic Energy Agency and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. He held that position through 2011 before returning to Kazakhstan to eventually become Minister of Foreign Affairs and an Assistant to the President.
Beginning in 2014, he served as Ambassador to the United Kingdom, and then presented his credentials as Ambassador to the United States in 2017. During his tenure in Washington, D.C. he has focused a great deal of time on expanding economic cooperation between Kazakhstan and the United States. He has travelled throughout the country meeting with multiple American companies to highlight opportunities for well-known U.S. brands and entities to establish operations in Kazakhstan as a gateway for new or expanded access to Central Asian markets.
Ambassador Kazykhanov has also played a crucial role in elevating the bilateral relationship between the United States and Kazakhstan. This commitment to a continued cooperation across multiple platforms was cemented in the 2018 document, ``United States and Kazakhstan: An Enhanced Strategic Partnership for the 21st Century,'' which outlines the goals and priorities of the bilateral agenda and sets a long-term vision to support future cooperation.
Ambassador Kazykhanov holds a bachelor's degree in Oriental Studies from Saint Petersburg State University and a Ph.D. in History from Al-
Farabi Kazakh National University. He has authored many articles focused on Kazakhstan's foreign policy, economic diplomacy, and multilateralism, among other topics. He speaks Russian, English and Arabic, and has received numerous awards and recognitions for his years of service.
Both he and his wife, Danara, who have two children, will be greatly missed by the Washington diplomatic corps and by all who know them in Washington, D.C. Along with my fellow Caucus co-chairs, we wish them both the greatest success and happiness as they return to Nur-Sultan. And as the Ambassador prepares for his new role as a senior advisor to the President, we hope that he will continue to emphasize the importance of the bilateral relationship between the United States and Kazakhstan.
____________________
SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 51
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
House Representatives' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
Alerts Sign-up