Kazakh PM meets Foreign Trade Minister of Finland Ville Skinnari
The sides discussed the prospects for developing bilateral cooperation in trade and economic, investment, energy, transport and logistics spheres, education, health, digitalization, green economy, and environmental protection.
Over the last 15 years, Finland has invested $366mln in the Kazakh economy. Trade turnover between the countries saw a 3.4fold rise in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020 and stood at $111.2mln.
During the meeting, the Kazakh PM noted that there is a huge potential for further expanding bilateral trade and implementing joint investment projects in the fields of digital technology, agribusiness, waste treatment, and green economy.
Last year saw rail transit traffic of goods en route Finland to China stood at 5.2 thousand TEU, up 11% from the 2019 figure, despite the pandemic. In the first quarter of this year the figure totaled 738 TEU.
Attending the meeting were Kazakh Ecology and Natural Resources Minister Magzum Mirzagaliyev, Digital Development, Innovation, and Aerospace Industry Minister Bagdat Musin, Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development Beibut Atamkulov, as well as Kazakh Ambassador to Finland Zhanna Sartbayeva.
The meeting saw the signing of the Protocol of the 11th session of the Kazakh-Finnish Interparliamentary Commission, which envisions strengthening of cooperation in trade, finance, energy, transport, agribusiness, education, health, and rational use of forest and water resources.
The memorandum of cooperation between the Kazakh Ecology and Natural Resources Ministry, KaukoInternational Oy Ltd, and the Kazakh-Finnish Technology Center, providing for strengthening and development of interaction in ecology, forestry and fishery, waste treatment, and water resources management, was signed.