Kazakhstan-EU trade turnover stood at $40bn – Kazakh President
Speaking at the ‘Central Asia – European Union’ Forum, Kazakh Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev noted that the prospects for cooperation between Central Asia and the European Union are huge. Last year, the flow of European investments in Kazakhstan rose by 23% to $12.5 billion, he said.
Of the $350bln of direct foreign investment the country has attracted over 30 years, the European Union accounts for almost half. The EU is the largest trade partner of Kazakhstan, accounting for mor than 40% of the foreign trade.
«Last year, the mutual trade turnover between Kazakhstan and the EU countries stood at $40bn. I believe that the figure could be increased to $50bn,» he said.
Kazakhstan and the EU actively develop cooperation in 29 key directions, based on the Agreement on Expanded Partnership and Cooperation with the EU countries.
There are over three thousand companies with the participation of European capital, including Shell, Eni, Total, Air Liquide, Alstom, Siemens, and others.
President Tokayev noted that the Kazakhstan-EU partnership was strengthened by new agreements in the promising strategic areas such as the extraction of rare earth metals, green hydrogen production.
«One of the breakthrough projects is the commencement of the construction a plant for installing wind and solar power stations by the German-Sweden Svevind company and production of three million tons of green hydrogen in Kazakhstan, which is around 20% of the EU’s needs,» said the Kazakh Head of State.
Earlier it was reported that President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev had arrived in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan, to take part in the leaders of the Central Asian countries and the European Union.