ASTANA. KAZINFORM - Foreign Minister Yerlan Idrissov has met with the head of Ecuador Foreign Ministry Ricardo Patiño, who arrived in Astana on his first official visit, MFA reports.
"Welcoming the Ecuadorian counterpart, Y. Idrissov said that Astana considers Quito as an important political and economic partner in Latin America", the statement reads.

The sides discussed a wide range of bilateral, regional and multilateral cooperation including support for the candidacy of Kazakhstan for non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council for 2017-2018. Kazakhstan and Ecuador share development priorities and close positions on international issues.

According to Yerlan Idrissov, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry is constantly working on the liberalization of the visa regime for our citizens. In this context the sides noted the importance of the agreement on mutual visa-free travel between the two states, in particular its entry into force.

Ecuador is the fourth largest trade partner of Kazakhstan in Latin America (Brazil - USD 377.1 million, Mexico - USD 121.4 million, Argentina - USD 40.1 million and Ecuador - USD 38,9 million, as of 2013). In 2013 bilateral trade volume increased by 30%.

The sides signed a memorandum of ministerial political consultations which will give an additional impetus to the development of comprehensive cooperation of the two states.

Within the framework of his official visit to Astana the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador R. Patiño will meet with the chairman of the Senate Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Karim Massimov, Minister of Oil and Gas U. Karabalin, Minister of Environment and Water Resources N. Kapparov, and other senior officials.
Diplomatic relations between Kazakhstan and Ecuador were established January 23, 2012