What did Kazakhstan and Slovakia discuss at the roundtable in Bratislava?
Prospects for cooperation in a wide range of areas in the field of industry, aviation, and energy were discussed within the framework of the Kazakh-Slovak round table. The event was organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Slovakia, JSC “NC KAZAKH INVEST”, with the support of the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic. The round table was attended by about 50 foreign and Kazakhstani companies, as well as representatives of ministries, departments and national companies.
During the round table, the parties paid special attention to the further development of trade and economic cooperation between the two countries and practical aspects of doing business. The Slovak side stressed that Kazakhstan has a favorable investment climate and conditions for business development. During the event, the Kazakh side presented new measures and state policy in the field of investment support, the possibilities of special economic and industrial zones of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as the country's potential in the field of mechanical engineering, metallurgy, energy, etc.
Opening the event, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic, Karol Galek, positively assessed the pace of economic growth of Kazakhstan, high investment attractiveness, and also noted the increasing interest from the Slovak business.
Altynai Mukanova, a representative of JSC “NC KAZAKH INVEST”, told Slovak companies in detail about the business climate in Kazakhstan, as well as about its investment opportunities during the event. In her speech, she also acquainted the participants of the business forum with Kazakhstan's achievements in economic development, promising areas of Kazakh-Slovak trade and economic cooperation, as well as measures taken by the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan to further improve the investment climate in the country.
"Over the past few years, Kazakhstan has carried out a number of large-scale reforms, adopted the necessary amendments to the tax, business and customs code, which contributes to the systematic diversification of the economy and the creation of favorable conditions for successful business. Having studied the best international experience, Kazakhstan offers comprehensive support to investors, including the provision of in-kind grants, exemption from taxes, customs duties and more. At the same time, KAZAKH INVEST specialists are ready to provide a full range of services for the implementation of investment projects in Kazakhstan," Altynai Mukanova said.
For their part, representatives of Slovak companies familiarized the audience with the scope of their activities, presented a vision for the further development of Kazakh-Slovak investment cooperation, and also expressed interest in implementing new joint projects.
In addition, as part of the visit of the Kazakh delegation to Bratislava, the Kazakh-Slovak intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, industrial, scientific and technical cooperation was held. Following the results of the IPC plenary session, Talgat Mukhanov, Head of the Investment Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and Osim Mamatkulov, representative of the Slovak company “Heneken”, signed a memorandum of understanding.
For reference: “Heneken” is a group of companies specializing in metallurgy, logistics, mechanical engineering, production of building materials and energy. The group includes 3 production facilities in Slovakia - Heneken Mel (aluminum plant), Heneken Conductors (cable production plant), Heneken Mazak (zinc alloy production plant). Heneken Group is the largest producer of secondary aluminum and zinc alloys in Slovakia with an annual capacity of 50 thousand tons.
During the working trip, KAZAKH INVEST also held a number of B2B meetings with the leadership of Slovak companies. In particular, projects in the field of energy were discussed with “Progubas”, with “Techniserv” and “Shark Aero” companies in the aviation industry, as well as with “Heneken” on a potential project in the field of metallurgy.
Recall that Slovakia is one of the potential trading partners of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Europe. The trade turnover between the two countries in 2021 amounted to about $84 million, which is 20.9% higher than in the same period of the previous year ($69.5 million USD). The total volume of Slovak investments in the economy of Kazakhstan for the period from 2005 to 2021 amounted to about $20 million (USD).
