Tatyana Gracheva

According to the Kazakh Invest national company, 23 commercial agreements worth more than $1.7 billion were signed during the Kazakh-German Business Forum on 20 June in Astana.
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Germany’s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who arrived in Kazakhstan on June 19 as part of an official visit, attended the forum.
The processing of rare earth metals, the production of machine tools for agricultural machinery, textile industry, fisheries and green energy were discussed by the parties.
A $22 million agreement signed between Kazenergopower and Siemens to produce medium-voltage distribution devices for the Kazakh energy sector using Siemens technology is one of the major deals.
A $200 million agreement for the exploration, extraction, and processing of complex rare metal ores in eastern Kazakhstan was signed by Creada Corporation and HMS Bergbau.
Investment projects, which will provide export credit guarantees to German companies and Kazakh companies collaborating with German partners implementing projects in Kazakhstan, will be financed by the Development Bank of Kazakhstan and Landesbank Baden-Württemberg.
The Kazakhstan’s role of the leading economic partner of Germany in Central Asia was emphasized by President Tokayev at the forum.
According to him, $6 billion were invested by the German companies in the Kazakh economy, with 90% of it directed to the non-resource sector. 1,000 companies with German capital are operating in Kazakhstan.
Tokaev said that all German companies, large or small, are warmly welcomed by Kazakhstan, because the country values the German approach to business based on determination, precision and responsibility.
Interest to collaborate in the development of natural resources was also expressed by the Kazakh President.
According to Tokayev, Steinmeier and he agreed to strengthen their countries’ cooperation in the joint exploration and development of natural resources, including realization of the intergovernmental partnership agreement on raw materials, industry, and technology during the meeting
Kazakhstan is anticipated to become the world’s leading producer of green hydrogen, which can open doors to the production of environmentally friendly steel and aluminum, among other metals.
The President Tokaev added that a $50 billion green hydrogen deal, one of the largest such projects in the world, had already been signed with Svevind Group, and he also noticed Kazakhstan’s even greater potential for development in this area.
The importance of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) in the new geopolitical realities was also mentioned by President Tokayev. The twofold increase of the freight traffic to the European Union along the route since 2022 proves it.
The President also added that the work is being carried to modernize the infrastructure and eliminate bottlenecks in order to support the growing volume of trade between East and West and to increase the capacity of Kazakh ports to 30 million tons.
Opportunities for cooperation in innovation, digitalization, and human capital development were also explored during the forum.
Tokayev said that Germany is one of the leading innovation hubs worldwide, known for setting very high standards in technology and science. In its turn, Kazakhstan strives to become a regional innovation and digital center in Eurasia with the aim to engage its German partners in a variety of ways, including technological and digital research and startup development.
The Forum of Rectors of Kazakh and German Universities, attended by Tokayev and Steinmeier, as well as representatives of 11 German and 25 Kazakh technical universities, was hosted by Astana on June 20 as part of collaboration in human capital development.
Tokayev expressed his dream of turning Kazakhstan into a research hub in Eurasia, and an extremely important role in making this dream a reality will be played by the involvement of German universities.
The opening of the Kazakh-German Engineering Institute at the Caspian State University in Aktau and the Kazakh-German Institute of Science and Technology at the East Kazakhstan Technical University was welcomed by him.
The ceremony of the launch of test drilling at the green hydrogen production plant of the Svevind company in the Mangystau Region was attended by Steinmeier on 21 June.

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