Kazakhstan was the first central Asian tiger

The EU has been urged to continue to “deepen and widen” its cooperation with Kazakhstan in the coming years. The call was made at a conference on Kazakhstan in Brussels organised by the European Institute for Asian Studies (EIAS).

The event on 7 December was held to help mark the country’s 30th anniversary of independence.

Several speakers praised the steady and dramatic progress made by Kazakhstan over the last three decades, not least in improving human rights, an issue that is sometimes used to criticise Kazak rulers.

But many also agreed that certain challenges still lie ahead as the country seeks to build on the economic and its other developments of the last 30 years.

The conference, '30 Years of Kazakhstan Independence and Prospects for Future EU-Kazakhstan Cooperation', was held in person at the  EIAS hq.

One of the keynote speakers was Marat Terterov,Head of Expansion Activities at the Brussels-based Energy Charter Secretariat.

Terterov, a former professor at the University of Kent in Brussels, asked, "What does 30 years of independence mean? Well,  for Kazakhstan it means that this is a country has come a long way since it gained its independence.”

Advertisement

He added, “This assessment is based on my many visits to the country where you see the establishment  of a viable, modern state, one which is based on sound governance.

“This has been brilliant for the development of what is still, after all, a young country.”

“Kazakhstan was the first central Asian tiger, which was based on its rapid economic growth since gaining independence. We should not under estimate its contribution to society. What we have seen in Kazakhstan is more evolution than revolution. It is now a normal country. But I stress it is still a young country, albeit one that is resource rich.”

He told the conference, “So, how did the country arrive at this normality? Well,it was early to reform and introduced a multi national foreign policy. It also reactivated its energy industry and this led to a lot of FDI coming into the country. This FDI came into various sectors in Kazakhstan. It is a big regional player. A lot of things that were right and, today, you cannot do much in the region without Kazakhstan which is now a key regional player."

He cautioned, though, that there are challenges still to address, adding, “one thing I’d like to highlight is about energy efficiency which is an area that is still under developed in the country.  I believe, for that reason, the country would do well to use the Energy Charter more as a platform.

"It would do well to focus on this area - energy efficiency - and to develop more energy efficiency strategies.”

Another challenge is how the country builds on its undoubted economic growth, he noted, adding, “More private participation in this process would be a good idea, I think.”

He concluded, “The EU should look at Kazakhstan as an asset, not least because it’s a very useful partner in a challenging region that also has pretty good relations with Russia."

The event was told since its independence on 16 December 1991, the country has benefited from significant economic and social developments as well as an expansion of its relationships with international partners such as the EU.

Speakers, including Mukhit-Ardager Sydyknazarov, Director of the Institute for Contemporary Studies at the Eurasian National University, agreed that since the establishment of their bilateral relations in 1992, the EU-Kazakhstan partnership has evolved considerably.

This, the conference heard, now includes several formats of cooperation and dialogues across a range of topics such as the green economy, human rights, judicial reforms, trade, FDI, culture and education.

Boris Iarochevitch, of the Central Asia Division at the European External Action Service, noted that the EU is now Kazakhstan’s largest economic partner, representing 41% of its external trade and 30% of its total trade in goods.

The EU has, it was said, welcomed the progress made in Kazakhstan’s development while seeking to continuously exchange ideas and values for further socioeconomic enhancement. Under the framework of the EU’s Strategy for Central Asia and the EU-Kazakhstan Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (EPCA) which entered into force in 2020, the conference was told.

Iarochevitch said that the scope of cooperation and dialogue is set to deepen and widen over the next couple of years.

While post-pandemic recovery will be at the forefront of their relations between, trade and investment opportunities, climate change, energy, connectivity, and digitalisation will be prominent on the EU-Kazakhstan joint agenda for cooperation, it was said.

Iarochevitch said, “We very much welcome progress made by the Kazak President in working with civil society. We have a regular human rights dialogue with Kazakhstan which is also to be welcomed. We have seen important developments in this country. These are very important steps.

“Kazakhstan and other central Asian countries generally have huge potential and EU and others

 should be aware of this,” he said.

Margulan Baimukhan, the Kazak ambassador to  Belgium, the EU and NATO, gave the opening and closing remarks.

He said, “Kazakhstan, as we have heard today, is a reliable partner to the EU and we do look forward to future cooperation.”

Lin Goethals, Director of the EIAS, said the conference was a good chance to assess Kazakhstan’s development over the past 30 years as well as future prospects for engagement with the EU.

During the discussions, Dr Sydyknazarov presented his newly published book “Uninterrupted nationhood in Kazakhstan. Kazakh State on the European and American maps of the XVI-XIX centuries”.

The event included an interactive Q&A session between the panellists and the audience.

Share this article: