Kazakhstan to focus on economic diversification and a greener economy

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev spoke about the need for greater economic diversification and greener solutions in the economy at the 33rd session of the Foreign Investors’ Council hosted on 10 June in the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan.

The council consists of heads of 37 large transnational companies and international organizations as well as heads of key ministries has served as an important platform for connecting major foreign investors in Kazakhstan and the government and helping the nation to improve the investment climate. 

Over the past year, global trade suffered from dramatic losses. Kazakhstan’s foreign trade turnover was down 13 percent last year amounting to $85 billion.

Despite this downward trend, Kazakhstan’s non commodity exports showed a lesser decrease of 2.8 percent to $15 billion and foreign direct investments made $18 billion.

Last year saw the implementation of 41 investment projects worth $1.6 billion and involving foreign investors.

“As the global economy recovers, Kazakhstan is also on its path to economic recovery. Our government forecasts the growth to be at least 3.5 percent and we expect the possibility of higher growth,” said Tokayev.

During the session, Tokayev also spoke about the need to boost Kazakhstan’s railway system. In 2020, the volume of transit rail transportation grew by 17 percent. 

Five international railway corridors pass through the territory of Kazakhstan, which gives an opportunity to the country to capitalize on its strategic geographic location.

91 percent of containers transported in 2020 through the territory of Kazakhstan accounted for the China-Europe-China route.

“We can surely say that Kazakhstan has really become a key link in overland transportation between Asia and Europe. Kazakhstan is an important and reliable partner in implementing China’s Belt and Road project,” said Tokayev.

Tokayev also reaffirmed the country’s commitment to introducing cleaner technologies and accelerating the efforts as the country transitions to a green economy.

Also emphasising focussed on Transition to Low Carbon and Green Technologies,  Prime Minister Askar Mamin chaired the EU-Kazakhstan High-Level Platform of dialogue on economic and business matters (Business Platform) on 11 June.

The event brought together representatives of business and EU Heads of Mission led by the Ambassador of the EU to the Republic of Kazakhstan, Sven-Olov Carlsson. Visiting EU Special Representative for Central Asia Ambassador Peter Burian joined the event.

The High-level Business Platform complements the technical dialogue between the EU and Kazakhstan within the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, in particular the Cooperation Committee in Trade Configuration, which took place in October 2020. 

The EU has committed to climate neutrality by 2050 and is fully translating the implementation of the Paris Agreement into legislation. Ambitious targets and decisive actions demonstrate that EU is and will remain to be a global leader in the transition to green economy. The climate challenge is inherently global, the EU is only responsibly for approximately 10% of all global Greenhouse Gas emissions. The EU expects from its partners to share a comparable level of ambition to fight climate change and is ready to deepen cooperation with Kazakhstan in this area, including exploring new opportunities for trade and investment.

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