Kazakhstan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Roman Vassilenko and the German Federal Foreign Ministry’s Director for Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia Matthias Lüttenberg have co-chaired political consultations aimed at strengthening interaction and coordinating positions on priority bilateral, regional and international agenda issues, El.kz cites MFA.
Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to Germany Nurlan Onzhanov and diplomats from the two countries’ foreign ministries also participated in the talks.
Significant focus of the consultations was placed on key aspects of Kazakhstan’s comprehensive domestic political and socio-economic modernization process. In his remarks, Deputy Minister Vassilenko gave his German colleagues a detailed overview of the results of reform packages initiated by Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, and also briefed them on the outcomes of the March 19 parliamentary and local elections. “The results of the parliamentary elections reflect the changes in society and a desire for further modernization of the country's political system,” stated the diplomat.
For his part, Director Lüttenberg noted international observers’ assessment of the elections and positively remarked about our country’s socio-political transformation, referring to Kazakhstan as “an exemplary champion of human rights” and “driver of democratic change” in the wider region.
Moreover, the parties agreed to continue to make joint efforts to support the positive dynamics of Kazakh-German cooperation in the fields of education and culture, and welcomed the rapid growth of trade and investment indicators.
According to German statistics, as of the end of last year Kazakhstan for the first time joined the ranks of Germany’s 50 leading trade partners, occupying 43rd place with a trade turnover of 10.5 billion US dollars. According to Kazakh data, trade with Germany in 2022 amounted to 2.8 billion US dollars, which is 26.7% more than in 2021. There are currently 600 enterprises with German capital in our country, including SVEVIND and Goldbeck Solar, which are planning or are already implementing large-scale green hydrogen production and renewable energy projects in Kazakhstan’s regions.
In addition, during his stay in the German capital Deputy Minister Vassilenko met with the Chair of the German Bundestag’s “Germany-Central Asia” parliamentary group Eugen Schmidt, as well as MPs Peter Bystron, Manfred Grund and Christian Gorke, with whom he discussed the results of the March 19 parliamentary elections and priorities for cooperation between the two countries’ parliamentary corps.
Vassilenko’s program also included a briefing for German media and a discussion on Kazakh-German partnership in the global and regional contexts with the Administrative Director of the Center for Eastern European and International Studies (ZOiS) Dr. Christian Schаich, ZOiS researcher Dr. Beate Eschment, as well as other political scientists from the Centre.