Roman Sklyar discussed the development of bilateral cooperation in agriculture with German companies
NUR-SULTAN - BERLIN, June 24, 2020. Issues of developing bilateral cooperation in the field of agriculture and new opportunities for attracting German investments in the agricultural sector of Kazakhstan were considered today during the 29th meeting of the Berlin Eurasian Club.
The event was dedicated to the development of bilateral cooperation in the field of agriculture, as well as the practical implementation of the agreements reached during the meetings of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev with German business as part of his visits to Germany in 2019 and early 2020.
The opening ceremony was attended by the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Mr. R. Sklyar, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture of Germany Mr. U. Feiler, Executive Director of the German Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations Mr. M. Harms, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Mr. A. Aidarov and First Vice Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan Mr. N. Dayirbekov.
About 50 representatives of the government and business community of Kazakhstan and Germany also took part in the videoconference discussion.
In his welcoming remarks, Mr. R. Sklyar presented the initiatives of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan K. Tokayev to ensure sustainable economic growth and social support for the country's population in the era of the pandemic.
“The development of agribusiness is one of the priority areas for attracting foreign investment in Kazakhstan's economy. In particular, we see great potential for investment cooperation in the livestock sector, namely the production of mutton, poultry, lamb, and promoting the export of livestock products. Moreover, the Government plans to task an additional 50 million hectares of pasture land in the next 10 years. In this regard, I want to invite you to fruitful cooperation in the agricultural sector”, - said Roman Sklyar.
In turn, Mr. U. Feiler presented plans for Germany to combat the economic consequences of the pandemic. In addition, the German politician gave a positive assessment of the pace of development of Kazakhstan's agribusiness and the quality of agricultural products, which, in his opinion, creates a high investment attractiveness both in order to maintain strategic interaction between the governments of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Germany during the crisis and for German business community interested in maintaining and further developing agricultural segments of Kazakhstan.
In turn, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Mr. A. Aidarov emphasized the commitment of our country to efforts to strengthen global food security and noted the important role of the agricultural sector as a potential catalyst for economic growth and social well-being, as in Kazakhstan, where the agricultural sector is the main source of income for almost half of the population, and in Germany, where the half of the territory is used by farms.
Today, with the support of KAZAKH INVEST, 2 projects are being implemented in the field of agriculture with the participation of German investors.
One of these is the project by Baumann for the construction of a meat factory in Almaty region. The investment project includes establishment of a production cycle for slaughtering, complete processing and packaging of lamb meat with a capacity of up to 3,000 heads of cattle per day for the first phase. In order to ensure smooth operation of the meat factory, it is planned to attract up to 50 thousand small-scale farms in Kazakhstan. End products will be exported to China, Russia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Korea, etc.
During the discussion were considered joint actions to enhance cooperation at the level of Kazakhstan's regions and the federal lands of Germany with its largest and most successful farms. In addition, the online meeting participants agreed to continue coordinating joint actions to minimize the negative effects of the pandemic on the economic relations between Kazakhstan and Germany.
For reference: In 2012, during the official visit of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan - Elbasy N. Nazarbayev to Germany, the Berlin Eurasian Club was established as an informal dialogue platform for prominent politicians, international experts, representatives of scientific, public and business Kazakhstan, Germany and other European countries that share the ideas and goals of Eurasianism and the State Program of the Republic of Kazakhstan "Way to Europe".
The previous 28th meeting of the Berlin Eurasian Club was held on 6 December 2019 in Berlin under the chairmanship of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, K. Tokayev, as part of his official visit to Germany.
Following the visit, and on behalf of the Head of State, the Government Working Group was formed for interaction with German investors, which includes the Deputy Ministers of the respective ministries.
