U.S. Chamber online here:
https://www.uschamber.com/event/reception-president-nazarbayev-kazakhstan-0
Reception with President Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan
16 January - Tuesday
5:30PM
8:00PM
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce an event with President Nazarbayev of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The Chamber's Eurasia team is preparing to host the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev and his key ministers on January 16th for a reception at 5:30 p.m. It is the first such visit in a decade and will be significant for all US businesses across Eurasia. Growth in this region is fueled by continuing international investments and the easing of regional trade barriers. This conversation will be an impactful means of engagement with the leadership of Kazakhstan.
[...] Sponsored by Fluor and Chevron
Presumably the man was in DC primarily to meet with Trump. From that report:
On January 16, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev made an official visit to Washington DC, meeting U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House. [...] “Kazakhstan is doing very well. They’re really — they’ve turned things around,” Trump said, lauding Nazarbayev’s leadership, which has now stretched to 28 years.
On trade and investment, Trump lauded Nazarbayev’s vision of making Kazakhstan a top 30 global economy by 2050 (“And he’s on his way, very rapidly”), and hailed Astana’s efforts to improve its business climate.
Nazarbayev said he would be attending a roundtable at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in the evening of January 16 to discuss the technical modernization of the Kazakh economy and oversee the signing of 20 commercial contracts worth $7.5 billion. While there are not yet details on those 20 commercial contracts, Trump and Nazarbayev both mentioned American companies such as Chevron, ExxonMobil, General Electric and Boeing which have long had interests in Central Asia. Much American investment in Kazakhstan stems from the big business of energy: oil and gas being the primary drivers of the Kazakh economy and Chevron running lead on an expansion of production at the Tengiz field.
Neither president took questions after the their joint press statement, but Trump did (somewhat) answer two shouted questions during the first set of remarks, the first about Norway and the second about Kazakh money in the Trump Soho building.
“Mr. President, is there any Kazakh money in Trump Soho?” a reported shouted as administration aids tried to clear the room. “No idea. Really no idea,” Trump said.
The question was in reference to the Trump Soho building in New York City which was developed by Trump with Bayrock Group LLC. Bayrock was founded and run by Tevfik Arif, who is the target of a lawsuit brought by Bayrock’s former finance director alleging that, as Bloomberg stated it, “Arif fed millions of dollars to the Trump Tower-based company from the profits of a Kazakh chromium chemicals plant, controlled by his brother Refik.”
Trump has maintained his ignorance regarding his former business partners. The Financial Times reported in October 2016, that Trump said in a 2011 deposition relating to a dispute over a Fort Lauderdale real estate project with Bayrock that he had “never really understood who owned Bayrock.”
Felix Sater, former managing director of Bayrock Group LLC and advisor to the Trump Organization, reportedly helped the family of Viktor Khrapunov, former mayor of Almaty, Kazakhstan’s old capital and largest city, invest millions in U.S. real estate — including Trump SoHo — through front companies. Sater, reportedly agreed to cooperate with “an international investigation into the alleged money-laundering network” stemming from Bayrock.
Obviously, none of this was mentioned in the public statements between the two presidents. Human rights issues, from media freedoms to issues of religious tolerance, went unmentioned, but this is par for the course.
The item did not flesh out the "Norway" shouted question, but it seems Norwegians stay home these days without emigrating much, given their per capita wealth being comparable to that of the US while each of them gets exceptional cradle to grave automatic healthcare via the Norwegian government.
Coverage is universal and automatic for all residents. It is financed through national and municipal taxes. Social security contributions finance public retirement funds, sick leave payment, and, for some patient groups, reimbursement of extra health care costs.
For acute hospitalization, there is no private alternative.
Through common agreements, European Union residents have the same access to health services as in their home country. Other visitors are charged in full. Undocumented adult immigrants have access only to emergency acute care, while undocumented children receive the same care as citizens.
As to prosperity, appeal, and per capita well-being in Norway, numbers do not lie; and there is this:
Norway almost got to the top 3 [Richest Countries in the World 2018] this year. It is a Scandinavian country encompassing mountains, glaciers, and deep coastal fjords. Oslo, the capital city, is a city of green spaces and museums. It preserved 9th century Viking ships and are displayed at Oslo’s Viking Ship Museum. Bergen, with colorful wooden houses, is the starting point for cruises to the dramatic Sognefjord. It is also known for fishing, hiking, and skiing. Norway’s total population is 5.084 million in 2013, with GDP of 512.6 billion USD in 2013 and a low unemployment rate of 4.1% in 2015. The economy of Norway is a developed mixed economy with state-ownership in strategic areas. Although sensitive to global business cycles, the economy of Norway has shown robust growth since the start of the industrial era.
Moreover, Norwegians do not waste money on dumb neocon warfare and intrigue (nor on Afghan poppy fields).
Coincidentally; of possible relevance to the Norway part of the Trump meeting question, this screencapture from here:
Looking like that with a name like that it is not wholly unlikely that her unconscious mind honed in on the "Norway" part of the question to where she could recall the taste and aroma of Reindeer meat on the table.
_____________UPDATE______________
Per capita healthcare costs in Norway are kept low for the same reason Canada's are - efficiency of the government run system instead of
__________FURTHER UPDATE__________
While Norway is a subject, add in a note about Haaretz reporting about Deutsche Bank divestment parallel to earlier Norwegian divestment of holdings related to the Israeli apartheid fence.