Kassym-Jomart Tokayev spoke at the round table with the UAE major businessmen.
Tokayev spoke about the economic and investment potential of Kazakhstan at the round table with representatives of the United Arab Emirates business community.
He emphasized that our countries had achieved significant progress in almost all the cooperation areas. The bilateral agenda is constantly updated with mutually beneficial projects and initiatives, the interstate relations level can be described as an all-round strategic partnership.
“From January to November 2019, mutual trade turnover increased by 10.3% on-year to reach $ 500 million, direct investments from the UAE to Kazakhstan -$ 2.1 billion, while investments from Kazakhstan to The UAE reached one billion dollars. About 350 legal entities, branches and representative offices from the UAE are successfully operating in Kazakhstan. We have an ambitious plan to implement joint investment projects worth $11 billion,” the President said.
Kazakhstan and the Emirates, he believes, have enormous potential for expanding cooperation. Today's meetings open up new opportunities and prospects.
"We are negotiating with the investment company Mubadala on the implementation of a project worth $6.6 billion on petrochemical complex construction to produce polypropylene in Atyrau region," Tokayev went on.
He drew UAE businessmen’s attention to prospects in agricultural cooperation. Kazakhstan has land, technological, and logistic capabilities for delivering organic and environmentally friendly agricultural products to the Arab market. Of great interest are also joint projects for halal products, meat and poultry, and the processing of oilseeds.
Today, the United Arab Emirates are in the top 5 most popular destinations for Kazakhstan tourists, and our country intends to attract tourists from the Emirates, counting in it on the Arab business assistance.
The financial sector is another important cooperation area. The Astana International Financial Center works closely with major banking and investment institutions of the Emirates.
According to Tokayev, investment proposals worth nearly $ 40 billion have been developed in the mining industry, metallurgy, petrochemicals, agriculture, logistics, tourism and other industries, which can become a good framework for deepening bilateral economic cooperation. The President also pointed out the importance of cooperation in education and science, noting ongoing joint educational projects.
