The upcoming forum’s theme is Cooperation in Agriculture Sector and Food Security. Participants will include heads of key ministries and agencies, regional heads from both countries, and big business representatives. The interregional forum is an annual event that has been running since 2003 and takes place alternatively in different regions in Russia and Kazakhstan. The last meeting was in Atyrau in Kazakhstan, and the one before that took place in Yekaterinburg in Russia.
Mr Putin and Mr Nazarbayev will have a separate meeting before the forum’s plenary session, at which they will discuss current bilateral relations and integration cooperation within the Eurasian Economic Union and other regional organisations.
The forum’s events programme includes a specialised exhibition Prospects for Russian-Kazakhstani Cooperation in Agriculture Sector, a meeting of the Russian-Kazakhstani Business Council on Border-Region Cooperation, and a bilateral youth forum. The forum is also expected to result in the signing of a number of bilateral agreements, including cooperation agreements between regions in the two countries.