Kazakhstan will allocate $50 million to train 1,000 Afghan specialists in the next five years in Kazakh higher educational establishments and vocational schools, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry said Sunday.

Kazakh Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev and his Afghan counterpart Rangin Spanta on Sunday signed an agreement on cooperation in education.

"Starting from 2010, Kazakhstan will for five years annually take 200 students from Afghanistan to train them in different professions: from medics and teachers to law enforcement and border guard specialists, engineers, agronomists and journalists," the ministry said.

"The program is an initiative by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev who believes creative measures and the country's involvement in social-economic and humanitarian relations are a very important part of international efforts to stabilize Afghanistan," the ministry quoted Saudabayev as saying.

"Our aid to Afghanistan is also a contribution to ensuring stability and development for the entire region," he said.

ASTANA, November 22 (RIA Novosti)