The government delegation of Kazakhstan, led by First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Roman Sklyar, made a working visit to the capital of Germany - the city of Berlin.
The main purpose of the trip is to develop joint plans for the practical implementation of agreements reached during state visits of the leaders of the two countries: Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to the Republic of Kazakhstan in June and President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to Germany in September this year.
As part of the trip, official negotiations were held between the Kazakh delegation and the Vice-Chancellor - Minister of Economics and Climate Protection of the Federal Republic of Germany Robert Habeck, and State Secretary of the Federal Chancellor's Office Jörg Kukis. A round table was held with the leadership and members of the Eastern Committee of the German Economy and bilateral meetings with a number of German companies.
During the meeting with Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck, plans for joint work were reviewed and a number of specific proposals for the implementation of agreements reached at the highest level were discussed. The parties noted the growing interest in Kazakhstan in the context of “green” transformation. It is due not only to cheap energy sources in the republic, but also to the attractiveness of our country in the implementation of large-scale “green” projects, including the production of energy-intensive products.
For example, in western Kazakhstan, the Svevind Energy Group company begins construction of a complex for the production of “green” hydrogen. The total investment volume is about $50 billion, the project is one of the largest in the world in this industry. To effectively implement plans, a German hydrogen diplomacy office was opened in Astana this year.
During the negotiations, much attention was paid to issues of further expansion of trade and economic cooperation in such priority areas for the two countries as industry, energy, trade, transport, logistics, agriculture, etc.
“We welcome the inclusion of Kazakhstan in the list of 34 countries for which a preferential procedure for providing investment guarantees has been approved. We consider this not only an important signal of recognition of the high political stability and security of investments in our republic, but also confirmation of interest in expanding business partnerships,” Sklyar emphasized.
According to the First Deputy Prime Minister, today a comprehensive architecture of framework conditions and institutional mechanisms for effective cooperation according to the formula “raw materials, industry and technology” is being formed between Kazakhstan and Germany. Which provides win-win results for both parties.
In turn, Habeck called cooperation with Kazakhstan in the field of energy and resources one of the most popular sectors of cooperation for the German economy. The Vice-Chancellor noted that interaction is being established between the Federal Institute of Geosciences and Natural Resources and the National Geological Survey of the Republic of Kazakhstan. By the summer of 2024, a list of specific projects for joint implementation is expected to be formed.
With the State Secretary of the Office of the Federal Chancellor, Jörg Kukis, the delegation discussed strengthening mechanisms for joint work between the governments of the two countries in order to effectively implement the upcoming large-scale tasks.
The head of the Kazakh delegation, Roman Sklyar, also met with the chairman of the Bundestag Committee on Economics, M. Grosse-Bremer, who confirmed the German side’s interest in deepening economic relations with Kazakhstan.
Advisor to the President - Special Representative of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan for International Environmental Cooperation Zulfiya Suleimenova exchanged views with German colleagues on issues of interaction between the two countries within the framework of the G7 climate club initiated by Germany, the implementation of the Federal Government's Green Central Asia initiative and a number of ongoing cooperative environmental projects.
Members of the government delegation also had fruitful conversations with German counter-partners.
Thus, the Vice Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan A. Tamabek and the Parliamentary Secretary of the Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture of the Federal Republic of Germany O. Nik signed a joint statement of the intentions of the two departments to develop and deepen cooperation within the framework of the bilateral cooperation project “Kazakh-German agrarian-political dialogue”.
At the meeting of the Vice Minister of Transport of the Republic of Kazakhstan T. Lastaev with the State Secretary of the Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure H. Hepner, the focus was on the prospects for the participation of the German side in projects to develop the transport system and expand the transit potential of Kazakhstan.
The negotiations made it possible to outline further specific measures for the implementation of the agreements reached at the highest level during the official visit of the President of Kazakhstan K. Tokayev to Germany.
By the Kazakhstanskaya Pravda
