Britons writing statement of work for Astana dvpt plan
This was told by British Minister of State for Trade and Investment Greg Hands.
"The export of technologies from the UK to Kazakhstan is a very promising sector of cooperation. According to Ernst & Young, London is second only to San Francisco in developing innovative technologies. Therefore, we want to work on development of smart cities. Moreover, Gillespie, a British company, is now cooperating with the Astana city administration on writing a statement of work for the city's new general plan, as well as the infrastructure projects. By now, the discussions and negotiations within the One Belt, One Road initiative are underway," he said.
The British Minister also mentioned another British company that is involved in the Best Practices Zone at the EXPO, and can also become a partner of the city administration.
"Pavegen Company develops so-called 'smart sidewalks' - when you walk along the sidewalk, the energy of your steps is converted into electricity for street or road sign lighting. In addition, there is a research cooperation memorandum between the Almaty Technopark and the University of Manchester," said Hands.
Kazakh-British relations started in 1992. During this time, the economic cooperation between the two countries has made significant progress. By the way, in 2015 alone, the commodity exports from Kazakhstan to the UK amounted to GBP351 million, while the imports equaled GBP594MM. In the meantime, in the same year, the exports of services from Kazakhstan to the UK amounted to 94 million pounds, whereas in the opposite direction it was 411 million.