Kazakhstan’s Ambassador visits Bruges to discuss transport and transit cooperation

NUR-SULTAN. KAZINFORM - Ambassador of Kazakhstan Margulan Baimukhan visited the administrative center of the Belgian region of Flanders - the city of Bruges - where he met with the Mayor of the city, as well as the stakeholders of the international seaport of Zeebrugge, and the company «Pattyn Group», Kazinform has learnt from the press service of the Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

During the meeting with the Mayor of Bruges Dirk De Fauw, the parties discussed the prospects of bilateral and interregional cooperation. The Belgian mayor has already visited some Central Asian countries, expressed interest in visiting the regions of Kazakhstan. The Kazakh diplomat invited the Belgian representative to the Nauryz celebrations to be hosted by the Embassy. An agreement was reached to develop interregional cooperation, as well as to organize meetings with Kazakh counterparts during the visit of D. De Fauw to Kazakhstan.

A separate meeting was held with the management of the Belgian port of Zeebrugge, the second largest port in Belgium (after the port of Antwerp), and one of the largest logistics hubs in Europe. The port annually handles more than 50 million tons, 20% of which are accounted for by the automotive industry.

The parties discussed issues of further cooperation in the context of the changing situation around international transport and transit corridors. The Kazakh Ambassador proposed the organization of workshops for port employees of Kazakhstan and the establishment of cooperation with the ports of Aktau and Kuryk. The CEO of the port, Tom Hautekiet, expressed particular interest in the development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route. The sides agreed to regularly exchange updates regarding the transport and transit issues.

The Ambassador also met with the CEO of the Belgian company «Pattyn Group», Stan Pattyn, the Sales Director of the company, Karel Vanduynslager, and the CEO of «Antagro», Laurent Anthoons. «Pattyn Group» works in the area of development of automated systems for packaging, weighing, filling, or counting products for industrial use. The company already supplies its goods to Almaty, Karaganda, and Shymkent. In November 2021, representatives of the «Pattyn Group» visited Nur-Sultan and Almaty as part of the AWEX economic mission.

M.Baimukhan acquainted the interlocutors with the situation in the packaging industry of Kazakhstan, as well as investment and export preferences for foreign investors. Discussing the possibility of the presence of the Belgian company in Kazakhstan, Ambassador spoke about the prospects of entering the region's markets around Kazakhstan, and agreed to maintain a constant contact to assist in establishing direct links between the «Pattyn Group» and Kazakhs manufacturing enterprises.

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The Zeebrugge International Seaport serves more than 200 international routes and more than 30 transport companies. The largest Liquefied natural gas terminal in Europe is located in the port of Zeebrugge, where loading, unloading, and intermediate storage of LNG is carried out. Zeebrugge also has a fishing port (the largest in Belgium), a marina, and a naval base.

«Pattyn Group» is a family-owned enterprise for the production of mass industrial packaging. The company was established in 1952 as «Pattyn Packing Lines». Today, the «Pattyn Group» consists of 8 divisions. The company owns its innovative and patented counting system with a three-dimensional image for the production of bread and confectionery. The company’s turnover in 2020 amounted to 80 million euros.