The Kazakhstan-Germany Business Forum in Astana
In Astana, with the support of JSC "NC "KAZAKH INVEST," the Kazakhstan-Germany business forum was held. President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz participated. The event was dedicated to developing Kazakh-German cooperation in priority economic sectors and attracted about 500 representatives of government agencies and business communities of the two countries.
During the forum, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Alibek Kuantyrov, Vice Minister of Industry and Construction Olzhas Saparbekov, Vice Minister of Agriculture Yermek Kenzhehanuly, Chairman of the Board of JSC "NUH "Baiterek" Rustam Karagoishin and others spoke on behalf of the Kazakh side.
On the German side, among others, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Economy and Climate Protection Michael Harms, Chairman of the Board of Siemens Energy Global GmbH & Co. KG Dr. Christian Bruch, Chairman of the Board of DB E.C.O. Group and member of the Presidium of the Eastern Committee of the German Economy Niko Warbanoff and CEO of Rhenus SE & Co. KG Tobias Bartz.
Opening the plenary session, A. Kuantyrov drew attention to the fruitful development of investment cooperation between Kazakhstan and Germany.
"There are more than 740 German companies operating in Kazakhstan, as well as 400 joint ventures. Over the period from 2005 to 2023, we witnessed an impressive increase in the volume of attracted investments from the German business community in the economy of Kazakhstan, reaching the amount of $6.7 billion. The significant increase in foreign direct investment in the past year, which amounted to $770.2 million, stands out in particular. Given that Germany is a key trading partner of Kazakhstan in the EU, we should further intensify cooperation between the two countries' business communities," the Deputy Minister stressed.
Speaking at a panel session on energy, transport, and logistics, Chairman of the Management Board of JSC "NC "KAZAKH INVEST" Yerzhan Yelekeyev outlined several promising niches for developing bilateral cooperation. Y. Yelekeyev noted that Germany's experience in green technologies, combined with Kazakhstan's natural resources and vast territories, provides a unique opportunity for cooperation in renewable energy sources and the manufacturing industry.
In turn, the German speakers showed great interest in the implementation of joint promising projects and expressed their desire to establish further cooperation with Kazakh partners. In particular, Patricia Neumann, Vice President of SIEMENS AG for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, spoke about the company's plans to localize measuring instrument production in Kazakhstan. T. Bartz shared about the joint plans of Rhenus SE, the Port of Aktau, and JSC "NC "KTZ" for constructing a three-modal container terminal.
At the end of the forum, a commercial document signing ceremony and bilateral meetings in B2B format were held.
