Kazakhstan and Ireland celebrate 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations
Over the past years of cooperation, Nur-Sultan and Dublin have built constructive political relations, established mutually beneficial trade and economic ties, as well as significantly expanded cultural and humanitarian contacts, the Kazakh MFA’s press service reports.
Multilateral interaction has become one of the dynamic areas of cooperation in recent years. The parties collaborate effectively within the UN and the OSCE and share universal values such as democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. Ireland has supported Kazakhstan’s candidacy for a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2017-2018. Kazakhstan, in turn, voted in favour of Ireland’s candidacy to the UNSC for 2021-2022.
The Irish economy is one of the fastest growing global economies and the country ranks among the top 15 most innovative nations in the world. It is home to the European headquarters of leading IT companies: Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon, IBM, Microsoft, Ebay, Oracle and many others.
Kazakhstan is interested in Irish experience in developing IT technologies, and in creating conditions for multinational companies to attract and fully operate in Kazakhstan. In this regard, in 2018, a Kazakh delegation of JSC «Zerde» and JSC «Government for Citizens» visited Dublin, where meetings were held with Irish technology companies.
The two governments have expressed their willingness to cooperate in the agro-industrial sector. Ireland is the largest exporter of beef and dairy products in Europe. In order to boost this area, the JSC «Kazakhstan Industry and Export Centre «QazIndustry» and the Irish national company «International Development Ireland» signed a memorandum in 2019 to attract Irish investment projects worth at least 50 billion tenge to Kazakhstan.
The financial sector is also a promising area for cooperation. Certain work in this direction is already underway. Last year, the Astana International Financial Center and the Central Bank of Ireland signed a document that aims at cooperation in protecting investors, strengthening market and financial integrity, maintaining confidence and financial stability.
All efforts taken by the parties on the economic track are aimed at increasing their mutual trade turnover, which stood at nearly 140 million USD at the end of 2021 (an increase of 14.2% compared to 2020), as well as at attracting Irish business and investment into Kazakhstan’s market (there are 40 companies with Irish capital in Kazakhstan. The total amount of FDI from Ireland to Kazakhstan amounted to 130 million USD).
The Irish education system, which has a strong reputation for producing high quality professionals and teachers, is also of interest. A joint project to provide free online educational courses to Kazakhstani secondary school teachers of English was recently completed, with around 4,000 teachers of Kazakhstan receiving training.
The current state of interaction shows the desire of both countries to further strengthen political, economic and cultural relations.