During a press conference at the Central Communications Service under the President of Kazakhstan, Roman Vassilenko, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, spoke about the work on the European track and the prospects for Kazakhstan-Europe cooperation, El.kz cites MFA.
“Throughout the years of Kazakhstan’s independence, we have considered our relations with Europe as one of the key components of a multi-vector, pragmatic, balanced foreign policy of the country. It is no coincidence that further development of cooperation with the European Union and the European countries is defined as one of the most important priorities in the Concept of Foreign Policy of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2020-2030 adopted by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev dated March 2020,” said Vassilenko.
He also said, “Last year, despite the most serious geopolitical turmoil in our region and the world as a whole, there was a change in the quality and nature of our relations with Europe. Political dialogue at all levels starting with our Head of State has significantly strengthened, maintaining regular, mutually interesting contacts with leaders of the European Union and leading European countries. Foreign and transport ministers of such European countries as Andorra, Germany, Poland, Lithuania and Hungary visited Astana last year. In turn, Mukhtar Tileuberdi, Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, visited the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Austria, Luxembourg, Portugal, Northern Macedonia, held talks with colleagues from France, Slovenia, Cyprus, Norway, Sweden and Estonia.”
“Kazakhstan is the only country in the region to have signed and ratified a “second generation” agreement – the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with the EU and its member states. However, we are not limited to the 29 areas of interaction defined by this agreement. For example, last year we launched cooperation in areas new to us – rare earth metals, green hydrogen, batteries, development of transport and logistics potential, and diversification of commodity supply chains,” he stated.
Since the signing of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement in 1995 to the entry into force of the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (EPCA) in 2020, Kazakhstan-EU relations have come a long way. The EPCA now covers a wide range of cooperation – from economy, trade and investment to such fields as aviation, education and research, civil society and human rights. Kazakhstan and the EU remain firmly committed to further develop and strengthen mutually beneficial bilateral relations with a view to the full implementation of the EPCA.
The high level of relations between Kazakhstan and the EU has created favourable conditions for the realisation of potential in the economic sphere. The European Union is Kazakhstan’s largest and most significant trading partner, accounting for about 30% of the country’s foreign trade. In 2022, trade is 27.6% higher than in 2021, reaching 40 billion US dollars (exports – $32.3 billion, imports – $7.6 billion). Investment cooperation with EU countries is also reaching a new qualitative level. In the first 9 months of 2022, investment inflow increased by 10 per cent to more than 8 billion US dollars. The dynamic growth is expected to continue this year. At the same time, there is significant potential for increasing investment cooperation and mutual trade.
“We continue to develop mutually beneficial cooperation not only with the capital of the European Union, but also with its member states,” said Vassilenko, informing about the calendar of events for this year. “Our relations are dynamically developing with the fourth economy of the world – Germany, with France, another “locomotive” of the European Union (...) In the near future we expect high-level visits to Kazakhstan from Britain, the Czech Republic, Italy, Austria and other countries,” he informed.
Separately, speaking about Kazakhstan’s cooperation with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Vasilenko stressed, “Nearly 400 observers from the OSCE will arrive in Kazakhstan to monitor the upcoming parliamentary election. It will be the largest international observation mission. This demonstrates high interest and support of the international community for the large-scale reforms in our country initiated and implemented by President Tokayev with the aim to build a Just and Fair Kazakhstan.”
At the end of the press conference, Deputy Minister underlined the growing interest of European partners to enhance the whole spectrum of bilateral cooperation. “In June this year Kazakhstan will host a large-scale event – the Astana International Forum. A number of European countries have already expressed interest in participating at the level of heads of state, governments, large TNCs and academic circles. We are expecting a large number of European guests,” he said.