Macmillan Room, Portcullis House, House of Commons
Embankment, London SW1A 0AA
HE Erlan A Edrissov
Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan
ERLAN A. IDRISSOV. Born in April 1959, Karkaralinsk city, Karagandy area.
Education: 1976-1981 - Moscow State Institute of International Relations of the MFA of the USSR, international economic relations department. Studied English and Urdu; 1990-1992 - MFA of the USSR, Diplomatic Academy, international relations. Hindi and French.
Career: 1981-1985 - worked in Pakistan for v/o "Tyazhpromexport" of the USSR State Committee on Economic Cooperation. 1985-1990 - MFA of the Kazakh SSR. 1990-1992 – attended lectures in the Diplomatic Academy of the MFA of the USSR 1992-1995 - 1 secretary of the Permanent Mission of Kazakhstan to the UN, New York. 1995-1996 - MFA of Kazakhstan - Head of the America Department; Ambassador-at-large. 1996-1997 - Assistant to the President of Kazakhstan on international issues. January 1997 - First Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan. October 1999 - Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan. Since 14.06.2002 – Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the United Kingdom. Since November 2002 – Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the Kingdom of Norway, Kingdom of Sweden and Ireland with residence in London.
Married, three children.
Talk: The country is the size of Western Europe. It used to be part of the soviet Union and was behind the Iron Wall and part of “evil empire” as President Raegan has dubbed it.
Background: nomadic culture. No dialects in Kazakhstan. 3000 km between East and West.
The Goulag was written in Kazakhstan.
There are more than 100 ethnic groups – many now exiled. The large ethnic groups moved overnight.
The country became independent 15 years ago, Kazakhstan’s economy is going well but outpaces others in a number of areas. There is no nuclear power. Since independence, Kazakhstan has performed impressively in attracting foreign investment – especially in extractive industries.
See here for Kazakhstan Embassy information.