December 8, 2015, Washington D.C. The 3rd U.S.- Kazakhstan Convention was held at the United Institute of Peace (USIP) in Washington D.C. This year’s theme was titled, “Road to the Astana EXPO 2017:Shared Prosperity and Dynamic Development” and highlighted the new opportunities available for U.S. investors and businesses in Kazakhstan.
The Convention kicked off with an opening remarks by Ambassador William B. Taylor, USIP Executive Vice President and His Excellency Kairat Umarov, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the U.S. Among the distinguished guests were Zhanar Aitzhanova, Minister of Economic Integration; The Honorable Dr. Celeste A. Wallander, Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and Senior Director for Russia and Central Asia, the U.S. National Security Council. About 15 Members of Congress including Senator John Hoeven (R-ND) were among the participants at the breakfast session
The first panel, “Silk Road: Path to Prosperity?” was moderated by David Dollar, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution and the speakers included, Kurt Tong, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs; Mr. Brien Desilets, Managing Director, Claret Consulting; Mr. Yerkin Tukumov, Bolashak presidential fellow, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University and Dr. Ronald E. LaPorte, Ph.D., Emeritus Director WHO Collaborating Center, University of Pittsburgh
Later a second panel focused on “EXPO 2017: Future Energy and Clean Power“. The panel was moderated by Michael Whitehurst, Director, Business Development, Centrus Energy Corp. Among the speakers were, Dr. Bob Simon, Principal Advisor to the Director for Energy, Transportation, and Resources, for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; Anuarbek Mussin, Director, Department of International Relations, National Company “Astana EXPO 2017”; Prabhakar Nair, Executive Vice President Business Development Asia, LanzaTech; Maksat Tuzelbayev, Advisor to Samruk Energy and Terrence B. Adamson, Chief Legal Officer and Board of Trustees Secretary, National Geographic.
A Business luncheon was moderated by Daniel Witt, President, International Tax and Investment Center and the speakers included Her Excellency Zhanar Aitzhanova, Minister of Economic Integration, Kazakhstan; The Hon. Bruce H. Andrews, Deputy Secretary of Commerce; Ermek Kosherbayev, Vice Minister of Agriculture, Kazakhstan and Marcia Favale-Tarter, Independent Board Member, Kazakhstan Development Bank.
