Italy and Kazakhstan Sign Agreements on Oil, Gas and Railway Transport Sectors

    Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and Kazakhstan’s president Nursultan Nazarbayev have signed new commercial agreements aimed at boosting bilateral ties.
    Italy's oil giant Eni and the Kazakh state KazMunaiGas company agreed to cooperate in research and gas exploration in Kazakhstan, while GE Oil & Gas, an Italian subsidiary of General Electric, signed an accord with Kazakhstan's sovereign wealth fund for a joint venture to develop gas resources and delivery via Kazakstan and Azerbaijan.
    Italy's public railway, Ferrovie dello Stato, will help in the construction and development of Kazakhstan’s national transport network.
    Kazakhstan has vast oil and mineral resources and bilateral trade between Italy and Kazakhstan is worth 13 billion dollars a year. There are currently 130 Italian companies doing business in Kazakhstan.
    "Today, we have signed economic agreements worth billions of euros aimed at exporting Italian industrial know-how to Kazakhstan," said Berlusconi during a joint press conference.
    On the same day Nazarbayev met Italy's head of state Giorgio Napolitano. The two leaders called for international cooperation in the fight against terrorism and in putting an end to conflicts in Afghanistan.
    "We must foil the threat of terrorism and create conditions for economic and social growth based on well-being, institutional stability and security in Afghanistan," said Napolitano, China View reports.