Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Roman Vassilenko met with Deputy Minister, Under-Secretary of State for International Trade of Finland Jarno Syrjälä, who is visiting Astana to attend the Kazakh-Finnish Forestry Forum, El.kz cites MFA.
The parties discussed the prospects for enhancing bilateral political dialogue and economic cooperation and exchanged views on acute issues on the global agenda.
Deputy Minister Vassilenko welcomed the positive dynamics of trade and economic relations, highlighting the growth of mutual trade by 9.4% in January-August 2023 compared to 2022. The volume of Finland’s FDI to Kazakhstan’s economy amounted to $18.3 million last year and reached $8.5 million in the first half of this year.
The Kazakh diplomat briefed his counterpart on the measures taken by the Government to develop the transport infrastructure to increase the efficiency of the Middle Corridor, noting the productive cooperation with the Finnish company “Nurminen Logistics”. He also reiterated interest in strengthening comprehensive cooperation with Finland and implementing joint projects in line with Kazakhstan’s economic priorities and goals to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.
To this end, the parties emphasized the leading role of the Kazakh-Finnish Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation, expressing confidence that the upcoming 12th meeting of the Commission in Kazakhstan in 2024 that will contribute to expanding cooperation in energy, agriculture, logistics and other spheres of mutually beneficial partnership.