16 January 2017, Abu Dhabi, UAE: Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the international financial centre in the capital of the UAE, today received the President Nursultan Nazarbayev of the Republic of Kazakhstan during his official visit to the country.

President Nazarbayev, who was accompanied by Dr. Mohamed Ahmed bin Sultan Al Jaber, the UAE Ambassador to Kazakhstan, was received at ADGM’s Authorities building by His Excellency Ahmed Al Sayegh, Chairman of ADGM, and senior members of the ADGM team.

The official stop at ADGM is part of the high ranking delegation visit from Kazakhstan to Abu Dhabi and also marks the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) and ADGM to cooperate and foster the development of their respective financial markets.  The MoU that was signed by Nurlan Kussainov, CEO of AIFC and Richard Teng, CEO of ADGM’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority, establishes a partnership framework for the exchange of views and expertise in the fields of banking, financial services and securities regulation of each jurisdiction.  As part of this agreement, ADGM and AIFC will also explore joint activities and training initiatives to develop their human capital capabilities and foster greater growth in both financial markets.

His Excellency Ahmed Al Sayegh Chairman of ADGM commented: “We are honoured to welcome President Nazarbayev to ADGM.  This visit reflects the mutual interests and spirit of cooperation between our two countries.  As an IFC, and a key driver of the Abu Dhabi diversification plan, we have similar goals with Kazakhstan’s AIFC in promoting and realising sustainable economic diversification and therefore sharing information is mutually beneficial and vital.  His Excellency added, “We also invite and welcome businesses and entities from Kazakhstan looking to ADGM as a hub from which to access both the local and GCC market as well as the growing economies East and West.”

Mr Kairat Kelimbetov, Governor of AIFC noted: “We are excited to augment yet another layer to our cooperation with the UAE – the financial services sector. We aim to establish a world-class international financial centre in Astana and the experience of Abu Dhabi Global Market has become one of the benchmarks for us. The signed MoU will enable the two financial centres to benefit from joint initiatives fostering sound and flourishing financial markets that will service our economies and economies of partner countries.”

Mr Richard Teng, CEO of ADGM’s FSRA said: “We are pleased to strengthen our partnership with Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC). This agreement fosters greater collaboration and supports continuous development and innovation of our respective financial sectors. We look forward to working closely with AIFC to maintain an efficient, responsive and well-regulated financial environment for our stakeholders and investors and to facilitate the development of cross-border business activities.”