Closing Session of the Second Preparatory Meeting of the 25th OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum in Astana, Kazakhstan
As delivered by Kira L. Zaporski
Office of European Security and Political Affairs, U. S. Department of State
Astana, Kazakhstan
June 16, 2017
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
On behalf of the delegation of the United States, I would once again like to offer our sincere appreciation to the Government of Kazakhstan and Nazarbayev University for hosting this week’s Second Preparatory Meeting of the OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum. Thank you for the opportunity to see firsthand the exciting ideas and innovations on energy and sustainable development being shared at EXPO 2017.
We recognize the tremendous amount of time and effort that goes into organizing an event like this, and we especially appreciate the dedicated staff who worked diligently behind the scenes to put together this forum, including: the Austrian OSCE Chairmanship, the Office of the OSCE Coordinator of Economic and Environmental Activities, and the OSCE Program Office in Astana.
The United States will remain an active participant in this continuing conversation, one that includes civil society, academic experts, government officials, and business representatives, to discuss opportunities to strengthen security and good governance through a greener economy and stronger partnerships.
We applaud the organizers for incorporating break-out sessions and working groups into the forum format, and we hope that Economic and Environmental Forum meetings in the future will continue with this valuable interactive exchange of ideas.
In closing, as we move towards the Concluding Meeting of the EEF in Prague this September, and the Vienna Ministerial in December, the United States will remain engaged on issues of clean energy technology, energy security, a greener economy, and the global effort on climate change.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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