in April 2019 discussing Kazakhstan's emphasis on economic diplomacy, Ambassador Erzhan Kazykhanov noted, "in today’s highly competitive global environment, economic and trade ties are an increasingly important part of international diplomacy. Official government visits focus not only on international political issues, but also on the development of closer economic ties. Diplomatic posts around the world not only work on political and consular issues, but increasingly engage with foreign investors, businesses and trade partners. Each year the foreign ministry and its diplomats help to organize more than 300 trade, economic and investment events and approximately 600 foreign delegation visits to Kazakhstan. Such engagements facilitate an increase in foreign direct investment. Kazakhstan has attracted more than $300 billion dollars in FDI since gaining its independence, making the country the leading investment destination in Central Asia. In the last two years alone, foreign companies have invested over $20 billion annually in Kazakhstan’s economy. Kazakhstan continues to adapt to new global realities to stay competitive in attracting high-quality investments. As we seek to further modernize our economy in order to reach our goal of joining the top 30 most developed countries by 2050, we are looking to strengthen our efforts in attracting a diversified range of foreign investments and technologies". In his interview to Foreign Affairs magazine, Ambassador Erzhan Kazykhanov said that "throughout the past decades, relations between Kazakhstan and the United States have grown profoundly both in substance and significance. Recognizing this positive trend in Kazakh-American relations and upon the formal invitation from the White House, President Nursultan Nazarbayev made an official visit to Washington, DC early this year to meet President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and a large number of America’s top business executives. Distinctively, these meetings cemented our country’s commitment to foster our cooperation in many areas of mutual interest, such as global politics and regional integration, defense and security, trade and investment, strategic energy dialogue, cultural and humanitarian links, and people-to-people relations. Most importantly, this high-level commitment was reflected through the adoption of the milestone document entitled, “United States and Kazakhstan: An Enhanced Strategic Partnership for the 21st Century” which not only outlines the goals and priorities of our bilateral agenda but also sets a longterm vision to build a common future. In May 2020, Erzhan Kazykhanov published an op-ed in Washington Times where he spoke about his country’s efforts in containing the COVID-19 outbreak. He wrote that