Kazakh and Dutch farmers expand cooperation
Taking into account the new priorities of the development of the agroindustrial complex, announced at the enlarged meeting of the Government in February this year, the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan together with the JSC ‘Kazakh Invest National Company’ organized a visit of Kazakh agrarian entrepreneurs to the Kingdom of the Netherlands on March 11-15.
During the visit, Kazakh businessmen visited large high-tech agricultural enterprises and research institutes, where they found out the latest technologies and processes.
The results of the trip and the prospects for expanding cooperation were discussed at the Round Table ‘High-Tech Innovation in Agriculture’. During the event investment opportunities and the potential of Kazakhstan in the agricultural sector were presented to the attention of 60 Dutch businessmen. Manager of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Assel Aitkhozhina underlined the attractive business climate in Kazakhstan, as well as the EBRD's opportunities to lend innovative agricultural projects in Kazakhstan. Within the framework of a special session, Kazakh entrepreneurs held substantive business negotiations with their potential Dutch partners in the B2B format.
According to the Director of LLP ‘Akseleu’ Serik Malaev: ‘The visit to the Netherlands has allowed to take a new look at the latest trends and technologies in the field of agriculture. Undoubtedly, we see a great opportunities for business cooperation with Dutch companies in terms of introducing an innovative and modern approach to agriculture’.
One of the promising areas for the visit is the creation of an agricultural park in the Republic of Kazakhstan with the participation of the world's leading research center in the Netherlands, the University of Wageningen. The creation of the park is fully consistent with the tasks set by the Head of State for the development of the Kazakh agricultural sector, and can become a base for the development of a high-tech and profitable cluster.
As Peter Smits, Expert on agro-parks and food clusters at the University of Wageningen, noted: ‘Kazakhstan has great agricultural potential. In our turn, the Netherlands has the necessary technology to create integrated food clusters. The combination of these two factors allows us to talk about the high relevance and cost-effectiveness of cooperation’.
It should be noted that the Netherlands is the world's second largest exporter of agricultural products after the United States and annually exports agricultural products worth over 80 billion euros, which is about 10% of the country's GDP.
The visit was also organized with the support of the Kazakhstan-Netherlands Business Council represented by the Confederation of Industrialists and Employers of the Netherlands ‘VNO-NCW’, ‘Royal Dutch Shell’ and ‘ERG’.
